Stolen World
by The Protoss Disco-Ball
Summary: Living in peace, Sol and his family enjoy their lives. But nothing good may last, and tragedy strikes. As his family is broken apart, Sol struggles to save his daughter from a life without happiness. Please review, it helps me improve!
1. The First Day

Hello all! this story is getting a bit of a rework lately that me and my co-author haven't finished with yet. _Please_ give critiques and comments! If you want actual updates on the progress of the story, head to the discord: /invite/aXksWtA I'm Amethyst Espeon there. You'll figure out why soon enough ;P

The story's style and writing get better the farther we go, as this was my first attempt at writing fiction. This story _will_ be finished, no matter how long it takes.

 **Please try more than just the first chapter. I promise the writing** (and the plot) **gets better later on!** We're looking to improve this chapter, but it's harder than it sounds.

* * *

 **Stolen World**

 _Ch. 1 - The First Day_

"Kira, wake up! You're starting school today, remember?" Amethyst called from the living room.

 _But I'm so comfortable..._

"I need to go to the clinic early today, some pokémon just arrived late last night with some nasty bruises. If you need any help getting ready, your father-" she said, walking into Kira's room. "KIRA! You'll be late if you stay in bed any longer!"

"But _mooom,_ " Kira whined, "I don't wanna go! Couldn't I just help you in the clinic again today? I know I can help!"

Amethyst sighed as she sat next to her daughter, stroking the soft, cream-colored fur around her daughter's neck. "I know you want to help, but you'll be an even bigger help once you have the know-how. Now get up, I don't want you to be late for your first day, you'll embarrass your father."

"Fine," Kira said, pouting.

"I already made your lunch, so just have some breakfast, clean yourself up, and go to school with Sol, alright?" Amethyst asked. "If you're good, maybe he'll take you to the clinic after school."

"Promise?" asked Kira.

"If you're good." her mom said as she left Kira's room.

 _If dad is teaching, I guess it can't be all bad,_ Kira thought, getting out of the straw that made up her bed. She yawned and stretched before making her way downstairs.

...

"Welcome to the land of the living Kira," Sol commented as Kira walked into the living room.

Kira yawned. "Good morning dad."

"You wanted to go to the clinic looking like _that?_ " Sol asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kira looked at herself. Her normally sleek brown fur was all tangled, the soft fur around her neck was matted in places, and her bushy tail frizzed beyond belief.

"Well that explains why mom added 'clean yourself up' to my list of things to do," stated Kira.

Sol chuckled as Amethyst sighed.

"Come here dear," she said, the ruby gem in her forehead glowing bright enough to illuminate her well-groomed magenta fur, as a wooden comb wrapped in a thin pink aura floated to her as Kira obliged. Amethyst ran the comb through Kira's fur, eliciting a wince when the comb got stuck in the knots.

"There," she said, admiring her work. "Now that is a good looking eevee!"

"Thanks mom," Kira said, rolling her eyes before looking up at her mother. "Are you sure I can't come with you?" she pleaded.

Sol closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Even if you learn everything there is to know about healing, you won't be able to do much without the right tools. School gives you those tools. You might even be able to put those skills to use _at_ school," Sol reasoned. "School isn't just lectures. We'll be going out into the forest to show everyone a few things. If someone gets hurt, it would be a good chance to show that you know enough to help your mom."

Kira's eyes lit up. "Really?" she asked excitedly. "Well then let's go! Let's go!"

 _Hope she doesn't get disappointed if someone_ doesn't _get hurt_ , Sol thought to himself.

"Well I need to head out. Have fun at school, you two!" Amethyst said as she headed out the door.

"We better head out too, school will be starting soon," Sol said, finishing up the last of his sitrus berry breakfast.

"'Kay. By the way dad," Kira said between bites, "mom said that you would take me to the clinic after school today"

"Only if you're good," he said in a sing-song voice, smirking before he picked up both of their lunches in his teeth and put them into a bag on his back.

Kira groaned, not too pleased with her father's teasing.

"Amethyst told me. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine." Sol said reassuringly.

Sol walked to the door, motioning for Kira to follow. When they stepped outside, they were greeted by warm morning sunlight shining through the trees around the small town. Sol basked in the light for a moment as he let the sun warm up his lilac fur. Other pokémon were just starting their day. Some pokémon were headed off to tend to the crop fields. Others were preparing their children for school. A few were lazily talking to friends. Overall, it was a fairly average morning. As they walked to school, Sol noticed that Kira's head was hung low. Opening the psychic barrier in his mind, he felt her disappointment.

 _She really wanted to go with Amethyst. What can I do to cheer her up?_ Sol questioned.

"Hey dad?" Kira asked, startling Sol out of his train of thought.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I've never seen you use psychic, like mom does. How come?" she asked.

Sol chuckled before explaining, "The moves a pokémon can learn is generally based around their strengths and weaknesses. You mother has much more psychic power than I do, and has trained with it from the moment she evolved. Beyond evolving much later in my life, I never had the time to develop my psychic abilities. I was raised in a much more wild environment, so to survive I had to focus on things to get in, out, and around combat. That's why I learned quick attack and got a local dugtrio to teach me dig, even though the moves don't hurt very much when I use them."

"So if I try hard enough, I can learn wish like mom?" Kira asked hopefully.

" _Most_ moves are learned based on strengths and weaknesses. Some can only be learned if you have the right genetics. In your case, since we know you already know quick attack, I think you would be more likely to learn dig because of me, than learn wish due to your mother. Sorry."

"So all those hours trying were wasted? Great," she said, huffing as she looked away. "Just...just great."

 _Oh great, she's even more upset. How can I make it up to her?_ Sol thought. Suddenly, an idea came to mind, and he smiled mischievously.

"Hey Kira?"

"Yeah dad?" she responded, gloomily.

"Wanna race? First one to school wins."

"What? But last time you lost! Badly!" Kira said, surprised.

"Maybe, but you've been helping your mom with her duties while I have been doing quite a bit of physical activity at school. How about whoever wins gets to decide what we do this weekend?"

Kira grinned. "You're on!" she said, launching into a quick attack.

Sol smiled at Kira as she darted through the town before launching into a quick attack of his own, already a decent distance behind his daughter.

* * *

 **[A/N]** Thanks for reading! Please leave a review, if you would, about what you liked and didn't like, as well as anything you feel I could improve on. This was originally going to be around three times as long as it was, but I moved a lot of what I wrote to chapter 2 and 3. Chapter 2 is almost done by the time I post this, with something around 10 hours of work total between them. I never thought it would be this hard, but _man_ is it fun! If you guys think this is too short, I'll try making the next longer (just merge chapters 2 and 3 back together). Props to MoonFoxJ (Link to his profile on my own, or you could just search him) for writing more than this every _week_ , with the quality that inspired me to write!

I know the story is going slowly now, but its because it got split up. The pace will pick up next chapter! Don't be discouraged!


	2. School is Tough

Man, I put so much research time into this. Every move used _is_ usable by the pokémon. Some of the descriptions of the pokémon are from bulbapedia, though quite a bit of the time I describe them myself after looking at the pictures there. Levels might not match up, but levels are more for gameplay than for story, anyway. They wouldn't make sense in a real world environment, anyway, so there won't be mentionings of it anywhere in the story. Also, first fight scene! Damn, it is HARD to write good fight scenes. Overall it's a lot more work than I thought it was going to be, but you guys who are favoriting and following, you guys make it all worth it. Keep doing what you do, guys! ^.^

 **EDIT:** This chapter has been revised to be better sounding in any way I could make it! Enjoy! (='w'=)

Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by Nintendo. Any resemblance to real things is purely coincidental. All OCs in this chapter are owned by me.

* * *

 **Stolen World**

 _Ch. 2 - School is Tough_

"I win!" shouted Kira as she passed the entrance to the school grounds, panting but with a huge smile.

"So you did." Sol conceded, arriving a moment after, out of breath.

"Heya teach!" a pichu said, welcoming Sol as she walked up to them.

"Hi _*pant*_ Rose" he responded, still out of breath. "You're _*pant*_ here early. Any _*pant*_ reason?"

"I was so excited to see my friends again that I woke up way too early," Rose said, scratching the back of her neck with her paw. "and then I couldn't get back to sleep." she finished, her blush hidden behind her magenta cheeks.

Sol laughed, "Well, if there's ever a good reason to wake up early, that's definitely it."

Kira, only slightly out of breath, walked up. "Who's this?" she asked.

"This is Rose, a second-year student in your class. Rose, this is my daughter, Kira. She will be joining us this year." Sol explained, introducing the two.

"Your Mr. Sol's daughter? So cool! What's your favorite berry? Oooh! How about your favorite move? Favorite exploration team? Mine's Team Brawl! They were so big and strong... Someday I hope to join an exploration team like that." Rose said, gazing at the horizon.

Kira waved a paw in front of Rose's face. "You still there? Were those serious questions?" she asked.

"Huh?" Rose said as she snapped back into focus. "Yeah, I meant all the questions. I _like_ questions," she said defensively.

"Well," Kira said, thinking. "My favorite berry is definitely leppa. Favorite move? Probably wish" she said as she glanced towards her father with a stubborn expression on her face. "For favorite exploration team, I would say probably Rising Star. I've heard they're the fastest growing exploration team in history."

"Wish? Eevees can learn that?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, my mom knows it. Dad said that I probably won't be able to, since I know quick attack."

"Oh, so you take after your dad then?"

"Huh? How did you know?"

"It was in one of the lectures Mr. Sol gave us last year. It explained why I know charge. since my father is an Emolga. The lectures are pretty rare, but tend to be interesting at the very least." Rose glanced towards Sol to see if he was still paying attention, but he was already leaving to greet some of the other students. She leaned in close to Kira after making sure Sol was out of earshot. "No one likes them though."

 _ ***BONG***_

"What was that?" asked Kira, alarmed.

"The bell? It means school has officially started!" Rose said with a great deal of energy.

 _ ***BONG***_

Kira looked at the bell, high above the school's staff lounge. Right before the final bell tolled, she saw a stream of pink energy rammed into the bell.

 _Huh, I guess that's one use for psybeam._

 _ ***BONG***_

...

"Class!" she heard her father from behind the teacher's desk. "To your seats, please! We have a few new people to introduce and a fun day ahead of us!"

"Yes! Time for class!" squeaked the pichu enthusiastically.

As the class comprised of Rose, an aron, rattata, pachirisu, a zigzagoon, and dedenne got ready to sit down, Sol motioned her and a minccino, who was standing off to the side, towards the front of the class. Kira nervously started heading towards the front row, getting more anxious as she got closer...

 _What will they think of me? Is my fur combed well? Are they go-_

Her train of thought was interrupted as Sol started talking.

"Class, we have two new students. This is Mizz." he said, putting his paw on the minccino's shoulder. "He just moved in from Allie Village. And this," he said as he put his paw on Kira's back, "is Kira. She's my daughter. Anyone have any questions for the new students?"

An aron in the back raised his foreleg. "Yes Silber?" asked Sol.

"Does Kira know psybeam?" he asked.

"Uh, no? I think I would have to evolve before I would be able to learn any move like that," Kira said thoughtfully.

"How about dig?" Rose asked from the back of the classroom.

"I haven't tried yet, actually. Though according to him," she said, pointing towards Sol, "I should be able to learn it."

The class looked expectantly at Sol. "She learned quick attack unusually early, so she most likely takes after me." he said with a sorry glance towards his daughter.

"Yeah, unfortunately." she mumbled under her breath.

"With introductions out of the way, time for us to start. Today will be an expedition through the mystery dungeon 'Timeless Forest'. We'll be learning how to set up a well made camp, which if you ever get stranded in the woods, you will find quite useful." Sol explained. "Coming with us to help teach today is Myodis, former leader of the exploration team Brawl."

 _Myodis? The machamp that leads the town guard? Huh, never pegged him for a exploration team type. I've never seen him leave the town._

"Hey kids!" Myodis said, smiling and waving as he walked through the entrance.

" _HE_ used to _lead_ team Brawl? _No way! SO COOL!"_ squeaked Rose, bouncing excitedly in her chair.

"Alright, let's go do some dungeoning, kids!" said Sol, his enthusiasm apparent.

The mystery dungeon turned out to be not that far from the school. In fact, it was so close it was almost within the border of the town. Kira stumbled when the group stopped before a shimmering patch of air.

 _There was a mystery dungeon_ this _close to town and I never knew? How? Why would anyone build a town next to one? Aren't they supposed to house dangerous pokémon?_

After a quick headcount, Sol started explaining, "To those who haven't been in this mystery dungeon before, it is called timeless forest for a good reason. Time doesn't seem to move; the seasons never change, the weather is always clear, and day never turns to night. Most pokémon that you find in this dungeon will be illusions created by the dungeon itself, so don't hesitate to defend yourself if you find yourself in danger. The pokémon illusions that are created are considered weaker than the real things, and they also can't come out of the dungeon, so the town is never in any danger from it. Be warned, most mystery dungeons are _extremely_ dangerous. Just because you might be able to handle yourself here does not mean in _any_ way that you could handle a different dungeon. Everyone understand?"

The students nodded

"Alright, then is everyone ready to go in?"

They nodded again, though some were obviously more enthusiastic about it than others, Kira realized. Mizz barely shook her head, while Kira thought Rose was going to get whiplash at the rate she was nodding. Led by Myodis, they walked one by one into the shimmer, disappearing as soon as they touched it.

"Your turn, Kira"

She turned as she heard her name.

"We don't want to keep them waiting, and I need to go last," Sol said, "so please enter the dungeon."

"Alright dad." she said, gathering her courage.

 _He said this was an easy one. I'll be in a group and have Myodis_ and _my dad to protect me. I can do this_ she thought as she walked through the shimmer.

Immediately after touching it, her eyes were blinded for a split second by a flash of light, and she was with the others. She turned around and saw Sol entering, his body quickly fading into existence. Starting just a few feet away was a thick forest.

At first glance, the forest appeared normal. there were tall trees and beautiful flowers lining the sides of the various dirt paths that branched off into the forest. However, upon closer inspection of the surroundings, the forest became surreal. 'Timeless Forest' was an apt name. Everything appeared frozen in place. The clouds in the sky never moved or changed shape, the sun frozen directly overhead. The various vegetation were all leaning slightly, as if they were being blown by a gust of wind that wasn't there. There were even a few leaves suspended in the air. Everything stood completely still, only disturbed by the pokémon intruding upon the forest.

After doing another headcount, Sol switched places with Myodis and led the group forward, into the depths of the trees. The students, besides Rose, seemed quite nervous. Rose, on the other hand, seemed _excited_. Kira walked to the middle of the group to her.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Alright? I'm with one of my _heroes!_ I'm better than alright!" Rose squealed.

Kira laughed, but was quickly shushed by her father, looking around alarmed. Getting worried, she hurried to him.

"Something wrong, dad?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"When the air shifted I felt something big moving this way. Maybe more than one." he said, scanning the trees.

 _Right, forgot they could feel movement in the air. Man, I can't wait to evolve._ Kira thought wistfully.

All of a sudden, the air shifted again, and his ears perked up.

" _GET BACK!_ " he screamed, sprinting towards the back of the line. "Incoming! Big ones!"

"Where from?" Myodis asked, getting into a fighting stance, eyes scanning the treetops. The students started huddling together, shivering. That is, except Rose. She seemed even _more_ excited.

 _Dad's_ panicking! _I thought whatever is in here is supposed to be weak! And Rose is_ excited _?!_ she thought, flabbergasted. _She is_ way _too happy about this._

"One coming from your left!" he said, catching up with the machamp.

"Got it." he said, focusing his energy into a fist.

Out of the trees appeared a gigantic yellow spider with a light purple pattern on its back. It quickly dove for Myodis, readying a fury cutter, but it was too slow. As soon as the galvantula lept, flames enveloped Myodis's fist as he pulled back for a punch. He grunted as his fist slammed into the arachnid straight on. With a loud crack, the spider hit the tree it leapt from. Most of its hair was burned away, its chitin charred from the strength of the critical fire punch.

Rose squeaked from excitement. "So cool!"

"I thought you said there were multiple, Sol. Where are the others?" Myodis asked, still battle ready.

"The wind shifted again, I can't feel their movements in it. They must be downwind from us." Sol responded, shifting his stance as he searched for any more attackers. "The wind shouldn't be shifting this much anyway."

"Maybe tailwind?"

"From two directions?"

"Mystery dungeons can be tricky sometimes, you know that."

"Right. Winds just changed again. They're a lot closer now. Feels like another 3 of them." Sol said quickly. Closing his eyes, he focused on the movement of the wind. The air itself had a feeling of tension as he stood there, silent.

"Two more galvantulas on your side, one on me. I think there's an ariados in the front too." he said when he opened his eyes.

"Then it's a good thing you chose this dungeon instead of a harder one today." Myodis responded, cracking his knuckles. "We might have been in some real trouble. You can handle yourself, right?"

"Of course." Sol said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't always have someone else to back me up."

He looked forward as the ariados came out of the trees in front of him. "Of course, there usually aren't so many high level pokémon here." he said.

"Just stay focused and we'll be fine." Myodis said calmly. "Focus on those nearest to you. I'll handle the ones near me."

"Understood." Sol said, focusing his energy into the gem on his forehead. The ariados launched a flurry of purple stingers at Sol, but it was too late. The stream of pink energy rocketed out of the gem, forcing the stingers safely off their course as it slammed itself straight into the ariados, knocking it back a few feet. As the ariados tried to stand back up, Sol dug straight down, narrowly dodging a glowing ball of electricity.

The ariados looked around, searching for its prey. Suddenly, Sol popped up from underground right below ariados, hitting its face with his claws, before using quick attack to avoid another electro ball.

 _He can handle himself. But where do those balls keep coming from?_ Kira thought, scanning the forest canopy frantically.

"In the trees! To the right of dad's tunnel!" she shouted, having spotted a light purple pattern amidst the leaves.

"I see it." said Mizz, quietly. She opened her mouth and golden stars shot out into the trees above. Small bursts of light and star shaped sparks lit up the tree as the attack hit the galvantula.

"You know swift?" Kira asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Allie Village is really small. A large group of rattata came in demanding all our food, so we had to fight them back. Everyone was needed, so I was taught swift. Since it tracks the enemy it's a decent long range move, so I didn't need to be in danger." She explained. "Keep your eye on the foe!" she said, pushing Kira out of the way of a signal beam attack.

"Right, sorry!" said Kira, relieved that she wasn't hit.

 _Hopefully_ we _don't become the reason to see mom after school. No, I won't let that happen!_

"Here, Mizz." She said, focusing until a green aura surrounded her paws. She touched Mizz and the aura quickly spread from her paw all around Mizz's body.

"Helping hand?" Mizz asked before launching another wave of swift at the galvantula. The stars were noticeably bigger, with bigger explosions; big enough to knock the giant bug off of its perch. Enraged, the spider immediately leapt at the students, prepared to cut the two attackers down with a slash attack.

"No!" screamed Rose, pushing the two out of the way.

" _ROSE!_ " Kira screamed as the slash attack connected, tumbling a few feet away.

The galvantula raised a leg to give the finishing blow. Suddenly, with a cry of rage Myodis tackled the arachnid, pinning it to the ground before cutting the spider to pieces a cross-chop filled with all of his fury. Behind him were two charred corpses, disappearing with a shimmer.

 _How bad is it?_ she thought, rushing over to Rose to check for damage. Her breath caught as she saw a gash through her friend's stomach. It was deep. _She's going to bleed out if we don't help her now._ Kira realized, her stomach in knots. _She wouldn't make it to the clinic. And oran berries aren't strong enough._

"Sitrus berries! Someone get me some sitrus berries!" yelled Kira.

"R-right!" said Mizz, still dazed like the rest of the class. She opened up her backpack and started searching.

"Damn it, Sol!" yelled Myodis, walking over to him. "You were supposed to handle this one!" he said, pointing to the disappearing galvantula.

"I know," Sol snapped back in frustration. "But that ariados kept me busy. There's no way it could have been an illusion. I don't know how he got the galvantulas to work with him, though, let alone why he was here in the first place."

"Hmph. He probably trained those bugs, at least a bit. It would explain why they were strong enough to put up a fight. They usually aren't that strong around here."

Myodis looked over at the bloodied ariados. It was bleeding from a few cuts on its side, but a large puddle had started to form at its belly. Looking back at Sol, he noticed that the espeon had some injuries of his own. There were a bunch of cuts, especially around his legs. Luckily, none were too bad; the worst was a deep cut across his left ear.

"That's probably going to leave a scar." Myodis said, pointing out the cut.

"That's the least of our worries. For now, my wound can wait. Oh, and please don't mention that I...killed him. My psybeam made a hole in his chest when he was rearing up to bite me" he said, walking back to the students as quickly as his injuries allowed him. "At that point it was either me or him, but I would rather the students not have nightmares, especially of me."

"Alright, I won't tell." agreed the machamp.

...

"I-I don't have any!" Mizz said to Kira.

"What?! Doesn't anyone have any?" she asked, scanning the faces of the other students. Much to her despair, all of them were shaking their heads.

"Have any what, Kira? What do you need?" Sol asked, just getting into earshot.

"Sitrus berries. Rose's cut is too deep for oran berries to heal, and she wouldn't make it to the clinic in time." Kira explained, panicking.

"I'm pretty sure Amethyst packed me some for lunch, actually." Sol said, walking over to where he had dropped it before the fight.

 _Right, he loves sitrus berries._ Kira remembered. _Mom always gives him a few when we have any._

"Yeah, I have a few." he said.

"That will have to be enough. Can I have them?" she asked.

"Of course!" Sol said, setting them in front of his daughter.

"Thanks." she said, squeezing the berry's juice into the wound.

"Aah! That stings!" Rose said, the pain bringing her back into consciousness.

"Just hold still," Kira explained, "this will help you heal enough to get you to the clinic back in town."

"You seem to know what you're doing." stated Myodis, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, before today I always went with my mom to help at the clinic." she explained while squeezing the second berry's juice into the wound. "I saw her do this all the time for smaller wounds. For something this big, I bet she would use wish, but I can't do that. We have to make do with what we have."

"Well, I think we will have to end class early today. I think everyone could use a breather after that, and I don't want to risk anyone being hurt here until we know there aren't any more dangerous pokémon in here." Sol said.

"Alright." said Kira. "That should do it. But I think it would be better if someone would carry her back. The less movement the better."

"Alright." Myodis said, picking up the pichu.

"Anyone else have any injuries?" asked Sol, looking over each of his students.

"No" said the class

"Alright then." he said, satisfied with his check. "Out we go."

...

 _Alright. The bones are set, wish just needs to work its magic._ Amethyst thought to herself, wiping the sweat off her forehead with a paw as Sol walks in.

"Honey!" she said, surprised. "I thought you were going out to a mystery dungeon today with the class? What hap-you're injured! What happened?!" she asked, getting more serious.

"We were attacked by a real ariados in Timeless Forest. He had found a way to tame and train some galvantula illusions." he explained. "But I'm not the reason we're here." he said, opening the door for Myodis. "She is."

Amethyst gasped as she saw Rose's chest wound.

"Bring her here. Has anything been done to help yet?" she asked.

"Kira used the sitrus berries you packed me to try to halt the damage. I don't know how successful she was, though."

"It's a start." she said. "First things first, we have to make sure there isn't an infection"

A bell tied around her neck started glowing as she focused her energy into it. A white aura radiated out from the bell as she shook her head back and forth, making the bell ring.

"Alright." she said as she started preparing to use wish. A dim golden aura started glowing around Amethyst. Once the aura was bright enough for it to outshine the ambient light, she touched Rose right next to the wound. Slowly, the aura started fading from her and started glowing around Rose. She smiled as she saw the pichu relax as the move started its healing.

"Once the aura is gone, she should be able to go back home." she said. "It'll probably finish before nighttime. She's lucky you got here so fast."

"Have I ever mentioned how lucky we are to have you around, Amethyst?" Myodis asked, still amazed at her work after seeing it so many times. "I'll see you around, Sol. I need to report the ariados." he said, turning to go out the door."

"Bye Myodis. Have a safe trip home!" Sol called back.

"Sol."

"Yes, dear?" Sol asked.

"You said that an ariados attacked you. A live one. Where is it? It must have been injured." she questioned.

"I...killed it." he answered, ashamed. "It was about to kill me, so I panicked and killed it instead."

"Sol, your psychic powers might not be as strong as mine, but they are still a force to be reckoned with. You can't just panic beam people."

"I know, honey."

"Just...try not to do it again, alright? I don't want to start thinking of you as a murderer, and I don't want our daughter to think that it is ok to panic, either. Especially if she wants to do medicinal work."

"I understand. I just didn't want to leave you two on your own"

"I know, love." she said, nuzzling his neck. "How did she get such a nasty cut, anyway?"

"She got it from saving me." Kira said, entering the room with her head hung low.

"Saving you? What do you mean?"

"Dad was busy with an ariados, and Myodis was fighting two galvantulas. Another was trying to take out dad with electro balls, so Mizz used swift on it."

"Mizz?"

"A minccino from Allie Village." Sol explained.

"It didn't do much besides piss it off, so I used helping hand. It knocked him off, but he just charged at us. She pushed us out of the way b-but" Kira said, starting to tear up.

"Don't worry." Amethyst said, hugging her daughter. "She'll be fine."

"R-really?" Kira sniffled.

"Yes, love. In fact, she'll probably be all better before the day is done."

"Thanks mom" she said, hugging Amethyst back while her mom wiped the last of her tears away.

"Now come on, I'm off duty for now, and I need to do some shopping." Amethyst said, heading out the door.

"Okay, mom." Kira called, following close behind.

Sol, tired from the fight early that day, headed home to get a quick nap.

* * *

 **[A/N]** Hoooly SHIT this was longer! To be honest with you guys, all the notes for the plot up to this point were "Normal Day", if that means anything to you. A lot of this was me coming up with stuff on the fly. All the plot points Neonic-634 and I have start next chapter, along with a lot more structure to the story. Until my winter break is over, I'll try updating every week. After that, every two weeks. Please don't forget to follow if you like it, favorite it if you love it (It is _the_ _best_ feeling when someone favorites your work, I have to say), and leave a review. I would love to know what you liked/didn't like. This is my first fight scene I've written, so critiques on that especially would be useful. Thanks for reading, from the bottom of my heart! It's people like you who keep me writing!


	3. When the Dam Breaks

To everyone that reads this far, thanks. Even those that don't favorite or follow. The action begins When the Dam Breaks. Please leave a review, telling me what you liked/didn't like. It _really_ helps me write more. If you liked it enough that you want to see more, feel free to drop a follow or a favorite, it is _the_ best feeling in the world having someone do that. Happy reading! :D

Sorry about this being late, friends kept asking me to play with them, and to be honest, they are more important to me than this story. That and I'm really bad at deadlines ^.^; It won't get canceled, but it might get delayed a bit.

I made a forum for this as well as a tumblr ask/update page. The tumblr page will be updated whenever there is a day I write (ex: if I write on Wednesday, then it will be updated Wednesday night, etc.) Links to both are on my profile, since I can't put links in here!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Fia is owned by Neonic-634. Any resemblance to real things is purely coincidental. All other OCs in this chapter are owned by me.

* * *

 **Stolen World**

 _Ch. 3 - When the Dam Breaks_

"See ya tomorrow, Rose!" Kira called from outside her house.

 _Glad she made a friend,_ Sol mused while Amethyst worked on his ear. _I doubt she'll give as much trouble going to school tomorrow._

"Good news. You get to keep your ear." Amethyst said, letting some oran berry juice wash over it. "It's deep enough to scar, but not much else."

"That's good," he said, sucking in a gasp of air through clenched teeth as the juice's sting washed over him. "Looks like Rose recovered well."

"Yeah. The cut hadn't gotten into anything vital, thank Arceus. She's perky, that one." Amethyst said levitating a roll of bandage wrappings onto the table next to her.

"You're telling me. I can't count how many times she's started a fight with a sleeping illusion." Sol said rolling his eyes, growing frustrated just thinking about it. "And every time, it's something stronger than she can handle."

"I'm sure she'll make a great explorer someday," Amethyst said as she put the finishing touches on his bandages.

"Hi mom! Hi dad!" Kira called, walking into the house.

"Welcome home, Kira" Amethyst said, nuzzling her daughter in the soft tan fur around her neck. "Did you have fun with your new friend?"

"Yeah!" she said excitedly "Can I visit her again tomorrow? She wants to train in the forest, but she said she would feel better about it if I was there."

"She just recovered from a life-threatening injury! And you want to train with her?" Amethyst said, incredulous.

"We'll be careful, I promise!" Kira said pleadingly. "Besides, she's fine! You healed her, remember?"

"It's because I healed her that I don't want her to go out. You of all people know I always have my patients rest and relax after they have been healed. Wish, morning sun, synthesis," she said as she shakes her head, "they all take an enormous toll on the mind of the person healed. You basically trade off mental health for physical. Sleep is needed to heal everything properly."

"But..b-but..." stuttered Kira, trying to find an argument her parents would accept.

Sol sighed.

"I agree with your mother. She should be in bed, resting up."

Amethyst looked back with a small smile, but Kira stared at the floor.

"However," he continued, "if I know Rose, she is going to go train whether or not someone is there watching her. If she gets hurt, I would feel better knowing someone was there to see it and get help."

Kira's face lit up.

Amethyst turned to Sol. "You're sure she is going to go?"

"Yes. She's never let up, no matter what. I wouldn't be surprised if she gets hurt from just training too hard, honestly."

Amethyst looked at Kira's hopeful face and sighed.

"Fine." she conceded. "Just...be careful, alright?" she said as she hugged her daughter tight. "I don't want to have to heal you."

"We will be. Thanks, mom!" Kira said cheerfully. "Goodnight!"

"Thanks, dad," she whispered as she passed him on her way to her bedroom.

"Another busy day for me tomorrow," Amethyst said after her daughter left. "I'm going to turn in early," she said as she hung up her bell near the door. "Goodnight, dear," she said, kissing him on her way to their bedroom.

...

Sol woke up, hacking as an acrid smell burned his lungs. He quickly put his foreleg over his nose, using his fur to filter the air.

"Amethyst?" he muttered, nudging his wife.

"Huh?" she answered groggily. "What is- cough -ew, what is that smell?" she asked as she followed his example and puts her leg over her nose.

"I don't know. Smells like something is on fire. Go wake Kira, I'll go check it out." Sol said as he got up to go outside.

"Alright. Be careful."

"Always," he said, looking back as he headed out the door.

The town was eerily quiet. The light from the night sky was dimmed from a shroud of brown smoke blanketed the few rays of moonlight that managed to get through shone red as it filtered through the smoke. Sol was overcome with a feeling of dread and foreboding as wandered through the village, searching for the source of the smoke.

 _I don't feel any heat,_ he thought, _but if it isn't a fire, where is the smoke coming from?_

Sol carefully walked forward, unable to see more than a few feet in front of him. Even after walking most of the way through the town, he wasn't able to feel any heat. Something was definitely wrong. He stopped as the well marking the center of town appeared through the thick smoke.

 _Where's the fire?_ he questioned.

Sol turned around at the sound of footsteps behind him. "Is someone there?" He called out in the direction of the footsteps.

The footsteps stopped before starting again in in Sol's direction. A large four-armed silhouette appeared as it approached Sol. "Sol? Is that you? I'm glad you're here. We need to get everyone to the square." Myodis said.

"What? Why? Where is the fire?" he asked, confused.

"There isn't a fire. This is a smokescreen."

 _Smokescreen? But that means-_ "We're under attack." the machamp said gravely, finishing the espeon's thought.

"Under attack? Why? From who?" Sol asked, incredulous. The town wasn't that big, what could they possibly want?

"Yes, under attack. I don't know why, I don't know who, but we have to act now. If everyone is here, it will be much easier to keep them safe and make sure no one gets hurt." Myodis said, looking grim. "The last time this kind of thing happened, stragglers got picked off on the edge of town. I won't have that happen again." He continued clenching his fists before heading off.

"Al-alright," Sol said, taking off again.

"Oh and Sol?" Myodis called back.

"Yeah?"

"Don't panic. Think everything through. Panicking is the worst thing you can do right now."

"Alright," Sol said, taking a deep breath through his paws. "Will do," he responded before he headed out to gather everyone up.

...

On a cliff overlooking the village, there was a large gathering of men dressed in black uniforms. They all stood at attention patiently awaiting orders, baring an R shaped crest on their uniforms. One of them knelt next to the edge of the cliff, observing the town with a pair of binoculars.

"Sir! The pokémon are all gathering in the center."

"Really? What fools." sneered a man dressed in a white suit, the same crest apparent on his shirt as well. "If this is how they react to an attack, I doubt we'll find anything good."

"B-but Archer, the boss said to-"

"I know what the boss said. I'm just disappointed by what I've seen so far. Still," he sighed, shaking his head "if the boss allowed me to use his nidoking, there must be something here. Nidoking, come on out." he said, tossing out a red and white sphere. A flash of white light burst from the ball, before coalescing into a large form. When the light dissipated, a large purple reptile stood in its place.

"Nidoking, the boss wants only the strongest taken back. Make sure to spare them. Feel free to do whatever you want with the rest. Got it?"

The horned beast nodded.

"Good. Houndoom, come on out!" Archer said, releasing another pokeball. A large black canine appeared with horns on its head curving sharply backward. It turned around, readily awaiting his master's next orders.

"Nidoking is one of the boss's pokémon. He'll be leading the attack. Support him as best you can, got it?"

"Hou!" barked the canine.

"I'll take that for a yes," Archer said smiling.

He turned to the wheezings who were belching out copious amounts of smoke.

"Change to smog. Thin out the weak ones."

Turning back to the attack force, he gave them the okay to go.

"Let's get moving. I want to get the good ones and be out before dawn."

...

"Yeah, to the square" Sol confirmed, making sure the meowstic family knew where to go.

 _Alright,_ he thought as he headed towards his own home, _almost done._

Sol rushed into the house, to the startled faces of his family. Panting, he explained the situation.

"Under attack? By whom? why?" asked Amethyst incredulously.

"I don't know, but we have to head to the square."

"What about Rose and her family? Do they know yet?" questioned Kira, concerned for her friend.

"I went to their house before I came here. They should already be at the square," he said, soothing his daughter's fears.

Amethyst looked at Sol and nodded. "Alright. Is there anyone else left but us?"

"No, we're the last ones."

"Alright then, let's go."

On their way back, Sol noticed the black cloud around them start to change. The black that had dominated his vision for so long was changing ever so slowly into a lighter green hue. Thankful for the clearing smoke, he took his paw off his mouth as he urged his family to move faster.

"Myodis!" he called out.

The machamp looked at him with a hand over his own mouth, panic in his eyes. "Sol! Put your paw back over your mouth NOW!" he yelled.

Struck by the urgency in Myodis's voice, he reactively obeyed. Looking around, he saw some pokémon on the floor, coughing badly. After Sol made sure his family was covering their mouths, they all headed over to Myodis.

"What's wrong with all of them?" Kira asked.

"Poison." said Amethyst with a grimace, "I thought this looked familiar, but I wasn't sure."

She shook her head in denial. "It looks like Smog. It's a poison move, and a treacherous one at that. It can poison if you just breathe it in. Even ferals don't like learning it since it harms everything in the area."

"Who would want to do that?" Sol asks, flabbergasted. "No outlaws have been near here for years, and no other town has any reason to attack us."

"Doesn't really matter at this point. I need to go back to get my bell to heal up everyone," she said, turning to go back.

"Be careful," Sol said, worried.

"Of course. We're under attack, I get it," she said. But as she rounded the corner, a massive form covered in a dark energy slammed into her, leaving a crater surrounding her unconscious form.

"AMETHYST!" he screamed.

"Couldn't even take a pursuit?" sneered the figure. "What a weakling."

"Weak?! What do you mean we-" Sol started, charging a psybeam. Before he was able to finish his sentence, Myodis put a hand in front of the espeon.

"Houndoom. Get out of this town before I make you. Painfully."

Sol looks at Myodis. All four of his hands were balled up into fists, starting to radiate a scarlet red aura. He was ready to fight. No, he was ready to kill. Sol, careful not to disturb the machamp in his bloodlust, moves back into the crowd, motioning Kira to do the same.

"Make me leave? Hah, good luck with- _AUGH_ " The houndoom was cut off as one of Myodis's fists smashed the beast into the ground, leaving him in a crater of his own.

"Don't mess with my town." Myodis spit.

Looking back, he realized there weren't many pokémon left standing.

"Damn, that heal bell would have been a saving grace."

"Y-yeah." Sol said "At least the smog is clearing up, though."

"Well we might be able to..." he paused as a nidoking came into view, flanked by ariados on both sides.

"Revenge, huh? A strong move. There might be something worthwhile in this dump after all." the nidoking said. "But first..." he raised his foot.

"NO!" yells Myodis, but it was too late. The earthquake knocked all of them off their feet, houses coming down all around them. Large pieces of debris fall on some of the bystanders. Sol and Kira immediately rushed over to help dig them out.

"Damn it!" Myodis said, gritting his teeth.

The nidoking smirked before launching himself at the damaged machamp. His fist started glowing purple as he goes for a quick jab, landing squarely in the unprepared machamp's chest. He quickly dodged back, prepared for the revenge that Myodis had been waiting to use.

"You won't find me as easy an opponent as the dog." he commented.

Myodis grunted before launching himself at the reptile. He let off a flurry of strong punches all around the beast, but the nidoking had put up his thick arms already.

"So." the nidoking said, rubbing his arms. "Close-combat too? What a prize we have here. Shouldn't be too much longer though. Poison jab's pretty nasty, isn't it?" he smirked.

Myodis grimaced. He had spent all of his rage much too quickly and it didn't deal nearly enough damage to warrant the energy he had spent. Taking a deep breath, he refocused. The nidoking was strong. He couldn't make another mistake like that.

He threw two fast punches onto the sides of the nidoking's body, both predicted and defended by the reptile. However, that left his midriff open to machamp's other two arms. He pulled his fists back, flames encircling, before slamming them as hard as could into his opponent's chest.

The nidoking rocketed back before being caught by one of the ariados behind him. They pushed him back up before retreating behind him again.

"Well congratulations. You managed to hurt me. Here." the nidoking said, walking menacingly towards the machamp as he rubbed his chest. Myodis quickly went into a defensive stance, hearing the venom in the large reptile's voice.

"Have this."

The massive beast launched at the machamp, its body covered in a white aura, gold streaming back from the forefront of his horn.

Oh shit! thought Sol, He can't take a giga impact! Not from that...thing! To his dismay, the machamp tried.

Myodis was flung across the square before he slammed into a building. The machamp slowly slid down the wall, leaving blood trailing after him.

"NO! Myodis!"

To Sol's surprise, it wasn't him that had screamed. Instead the voice had come from a little yellow blur speeding towards the fallen machamp.

"No! You're supposed to be the best!" she said, tears forming. "You can't lose!"

"Rose! Come on! We have to get away!" Kira called as she rushed beside her friend.

Sol looked to the sky as he heard a whirring noise getting closer at an incredible rate. His fur stood on edge as the sound started becoming earsplitting.

Above them, a giant metal contraption flew into view. Riding it were two hairless, bipedal creatures.

 _What...what type of pokémon are those?_ Sol gawked, but his train of thought was interrupted as a thick net covered the downed machamp, with a line all the way back to the flying hunk of metal.

"W-what's going on?" Sol yelled above the din.

"We're taking him." the nidoking replied nonchalantly.

"Taking him?"

"Yes. Taking him. I'm glad your ears aren't just for show." he said, rolling his eyes. "We are looking for strong pokémon, and this one," he said pointing a claw at the machamp, "fits the bill."

The creatures in the metal flying machine make some noise and a red beam hits the nidoking and he gets sucked into the beam, disappearing. The ariados quickly follow suit. The net, now closed around Myodis, started raising up.

"DAD!" screamed Kira.

"SOL! HELP!" Rose chimed in.

Sol attention snapped back to the net. It was being raised back to the flying machine with Myodis and the two kids in tow.

SHIT! They were next to him when the net came down! What do I-

"Sol!" yelled another panicked voice.

He turned around.

"Please, don't go. I know you want her back, I do too, but it isn't a guarantee. If I lose you, too, I-I..." Amethyst said, tearing up. "I don't know what I would do."

Sol hugged his wife. She was the love of his life, someone he didn't ever want to be apart from. But... "If I don't at least try to get her back, I would never forgive myself. You know that. The pokémon need you here, and you're injured besides. If you come with me, most of the people here won't make it."

"I-I..." She sniffled. "I know...Just, come back safe, alright?"

"Of course." he said. His attention returned to the net, now significantly higher than what it was before.

 _Shit!_ he thought, panicking. Looking around, he realized that there was nothing to launch from. He looked pleadingly at his wife

"Here." Amethyst said, sighing. Her eyes glowed a light pink as she visibly struggled to get off the move. She lifted him near the net, but before she could get him to the top, her strength gave out and he starts falling.

 _NO!_ he screamed mentally as he reached out to grab the net. He thanked his luck as his paws wrapped around the bottom of the net, just barely enough for him to pull himself closer.

"Dad!" Kira wailed.

"I'm here! Don't worry, I'll get you out!" he yelled back. But before he could act, the helicopter started moving forward, dragging the net behind it. The wind was much too great to concentrate hard enough to get off an attack, leaving Sol helpless to act.

 _Where are we going? h_ e thought. _There isn't anything over here but..._

 _The sea_ he realized.

They quickly approached the edge of the forest, and the sea came into view. On the beach, another metal contraption awaited their arrival.

 _Another? How did these creatures even make something like that?_ Sol asks himself.

But before he could finish his thoughts, the helicopter reached the boat and began lowering the net. After a decent headway down, Sol noticed there are more of those weird creatures down below.

 _SHIT! I can't be caught here!_ he panicked, struggling to get his paw unhooked from the net. After finally untangling his paw, he immediately realized his mistake: he was still too high up to make a safe landing. He reached out, trying to grab back onto the net, but the net was dropping too.

He looked down and saw padding in a crate for the net to land. But he wasn't next to the net anymore; in fact, right below him was nothing more than the metal surface rushing to meet him. He panicked, but there was nothing to be done. He slammed into the boat face first, immediately blacking out. As the boat moved to depart, the motions slid his unconscious body into the darkness at the back of an empty box.

* * *

 **WARNING**

 **Author Rambling Ahead**

 _Read at your own discretion (still no spoilers though)_

And here we go! Thanks for reading this far, I'll try to keep the updates coming, though after January 4th college starts again so things will slow down quite a bit (yeah, even more). Writing this much is pretty hard work and I want it to be quality. I read all the reviews I get and I'll probably respond to them too, so feel free to do so as much as you like! I know I sound like a broken record, but every time I see a review, favorite, or even just a follow, I squeal a bit. Every one of those is a huge encouragement! Even bad reviews! They just tell me something to work on. Again, I would love to hear what you guys think of this battle scene, I know I need to work on them a bit, they are _hard_ to get right. Also, I know Amethyst sounds like a total shit parent at the end, but I couldn't think of a way to word it better. I'll keep trying to rework it until I can get her to sound motherly, because she is _NOT_ supposed to be a bad parent. This is a bad case of plot overriding characters, I guess. I'll try to make it the only time it happens.

I've been thinking about how short the fight scenes are in this and how much I want them to be longer, but at least in the games, the fights last usually no more than 3 or 4 hits per side, pretty much max unless someone is running a delay strat. So...it's...kinda accurate? I guess?

Last part, my co-author (Neonic-634, he helped make the world this takes place in), couldn't review my writing as he usually does, as he was busy. He wanted me to wait a week, but I felt that was unfair to you readers. I reviewed it myself (lightly, really wanted to get this out), but some changes might be made after he reviews it again, though it shouldn't be that much different.


	4. A New World

Again, thanks for reading this far! Any and all reviews, no matter what they are, are very much appreciated!

Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by Nintendo. Any resemblance to real things is purely coincidental. All OCs in this chapter are owned by me.

* * *

 **Stolen World**

 _Ch. 4 - The New World ~Sol_

Sol woke up, his head pounding. In the pitch black darkness around him, he reached out to wake up his wife. When he touched the cold metal deck, he panicked.

 _Where is Amethyst?! She normally sleeps right here, next to me! Did something happen? What-_

 _*THUNK*_

"Owwww..." he whined, rubbing his head where it slammed against a ceiling.

Where am I? If those damn kids pranked me again, I swear I'll-

 _*vvvVVRRR*_

The metallic thrum of machinery revving up interrupted his thoughts.

 _What was that? That doesn't sound like a pokemon. In_ fact _it sounds like- SHIT. How long was I out?_ he panicked, his memory flooding back to him.

His eyes darted around the box. searching for an exit. An opening, a crack, a hole, anything!.

 _Come on!_ There has to be a way out! he thought, searching the sides.

His paws came into contact with something at the bottom of one of the walls. It was cylindrical, split multiple times into fine slices, connecting to the wall and floor alternatingly.

 _Hinges?_ he questioned. _If there are hinges, then it has to open, right? Sounds like a good enough plan to test out._

He slammed his shoulder into the wall, moving the box ever so slightly.

 _Harder!_

He slammed again, but to no avail.

 ** _Harder!_**

Again, the same result.

 _Damn it!_ he thought, rubbing his shoulder. _Alright Sol, think this through. There isn't enough room for me to get full height, but there is enough room for me to get a bit of a tackle in. The hinge is on the bottom, so I have to flip it over. The best way to do that is..._

He looked up at the darkness.

 _Psybeam._

The ruby in his head started shining as he focused his energy into it. With the added light, he was able to see the entirety of his makeshift prison. It wasn't much; just a simple metal box. He crawled over to one of the walls, aimed up, and fired. The box spun a few feet into the air before landing, luckily, on what was supposed to be the bottom of the box this time, rather than the top.

Clutching his head, he poked out of the box, the light of the moon making him squint. When his vision cleared, he saw a familiar crate being lifted by another mechanical monstrosity. The contraption was huge, but all it seemed to do was lift. In fact, that seemed like all it was capable of doing: lifting.

 _That means it shouldn't be a danger, right?_ Sol hoped.

He carefully climbed out of the box, sticking to the darkness cast by the crane's bright headlights; if anyone noticed him here, that would be the end of his rescue mission. He waited for the crane to swivel around, moving the light along with it. Once the crane faced completely away, he darted towards the cement dock, but skidded to a stop when he heard voices. Peering over the edge of the boat, he checked the dock for life. Sol heaved a sigh of relief; all of the pokemon were gone, though those strange creatures were still there.

 _Probably in those weird orbs those creatures hang about their waist_ Sol reasoned. _At least, those look like the things they were absorbed by..._

He glanced towards the crane again, focusing on the crate. He squinted, trying to get a better view. It was being lowered onto... something.

 _*vvVVRRR*_

The espeon groaned. "Another machine?"

As quickly as the noise had started, it had faded away into a steady rumble. Curious, Sol edged closer, always keeping one eye on the strange creatures. He sighed in relief as he realized the creatures were focused too much on the machines to notice him. He stalked closer to the machine to get a closer look. It was definitely metal, just like all the others so far, but this one was at least recognizable. It looked a lot like a huge wheelbarrow, only it had four wheels instead of one and no handles to pull it with.

He tilted his head in confusion. _How do they expect to get it to move?_

He jumped as a loud thud shocked him out of his stupor.

 _Shit! Gotta focus!_ he thought, turning his attention back to the crate. To his dismay, it was already on the truck, the strange creatures strapping it down tight. He crept slowly towards the truck, hoping to simply use his claws to snap the straps. Even that hope was crushed when the creatures all get inside the truck and it begins to move away.

Giving up all pretense of stealth, he sprinted towards the truck, desperate to get on. Hope lit anew in his heart as the truck started slowly. But his hopes were dashed when the truck put on a sudden burst of speed, going much much faster than the espeon had anticipated.

"NO!" he screamed as he put all of his energy into his sprint. But as he dreaded, the truck kept getting farther away.

"NO!" he yelled, determined to catch up. He launched a quick attack, gaining his own burst of speed. The truck came closer and closer. For a good thirty seconds, he inched closer towards the vehicle.

 _Yes!_ he thought, reaching out to the truck; but it was still accelerating, while he had already hit full speed. Gradually, the distance between the two widened. Crestfallen, the espeon slows down to a halt before he sat down, gasping for breath as he watched the truck slip out of view. There was no way he could catch up to it now, even if he had kept going at top speed.

Suddenly, he became very aware of his surroundings. He was in a strange forest with no supplies, no map, nothing. Beyond that, he was extremely tired; the attack on the village combined with sprinting for such a long time made him almost collapse right there from exhaustion. But he couldn't let that happen, not here. If he fell asleep now, he might not wake up.

He forced himself back to his feet

He closed his eyes. _First things first. Find water. Then food, then shelter._

He strained his ears, listening for any sign of water. Rustling _of leaves, wings flapping...there!_

He walked towards the sound. Before long, he came upon a river. Grateful, he dipped his head beneath the surface and drinks heartily, the cold water a great relief to his dry throat.

 _Alright, food next._ He thought, searching the coast for berry bushes. A few yards ahead he found a sitrus bush.

"Sweet!" he said. He broke one off of the bush, happy for his favorite food. As he puts the food in his mouth, his eyes stray to a nearby tree.

He froze. There were kakuna all over it. From base to canopy, the tree was covered in the yellow cocoons. He dropped the berry and slowly backed away, hoping he had not disturbed the pokemon's much more violent relatives.

His ears fell flat against his head as he heard a horde of insect wings buzzing nearby. Before he could even turn around, dozens of beedrill burst through the leaf canopy above and charged straight at him. They were quite clearly past the point where reasoning would help. He bolted downriver, using quick attack to get away as fast as possible. But the buzzing was still close behind. He took a quick glance behind him and gulped. They were gaining on him!

 _I have to get somewhere they won't go._ he reasoned. _If I use dig, they could just use toxic spikes and I would never be able to leave, so that's out of the question. How about a cave?_

He looked around but there were no hills in sight, just forest.

 _Well, being in the open isn't helping._ he thought, dashing off into the forest away from the river.

Much to his despair, the beedrill kept chasing. _Aren't they ever going to give up?_

Before long, the adrenaline started to ebb and he could feel his legs beginning to slow.

 _Just a little more, come on!_ he told himself. Two purple stingers slam into the ground in front of his face. Glancing behind him, a chill races down his spine. All of them were readying up another volley of poison sting. If he got hit, he would be done for. Beedrill poison was vicious. Well, at least it got his blood moving again.

He burst into a clearing and what he saw in front of him made his heart jump for joy.

"A cave!" he yelled, happily. Putting on another burst of speed he dove for the cave. A piercing pain slams into his side, turning his relief into dread. He turned around, ready to fight. But the beedrill weren't coming in. However, neither were they leaving.

 _They're waiting for me to die he realizes._ He checked his side. Three. There were three stingers lodged into his side. _They know they hit me. They're just going to wait._ He collapsed.

 _I can't leave, they would get me for sure. Kira, Amethyst, I'm sorry._ His eyes start tearing up. _I guess I'm going to break my promise._ His eyes droop, tired from the chase, from the fighting, and from the poison. Never so much before did he want rest. As tired as he was, sleep came quickly.

But as quick as it had come, it was taken away. He woke up to the roar of fire coming from outside the cave. From the erratic buzzing of wings, it was obvious the beedrill were fighting something. But it didn't last long; soon after it had started, the buzzing grew quiet. Whatever had fought them, it was strong.

 _Thank Arceus_ he thought. _Now I can finally..._

His train of thought ended when he noticed a faint light shine on the wall near the entrance of the cave. Whatever had fought out there, it was coming in here. He grit his teeth and charged up a psybeam.

A moment after, a small flame came into view. Without hesitation, Sol launched the beam at the intruding creature. The flame disappeared, but the beam hit a barrier of light blue energy. A moment later a wall of crackling light hit him, and everything went black.

* * *

If you liked the story, leave a follow. Any reviews would be appreciated! Thanks for reading! Next chapter should be up by 1/17/2016.

 **EDIT:** I'm really sorry for how badly this got edited. I actually have no idea how that present tense stayed in there. I definitely want to clean this chapter up more than I did, but that will come later.


	5. The Other Side

Oh god, sorry for the wait! I don't have any real excuses. I just didn't have the motivation to write, and I didn't really feel like it. It really made me feel bad, honestly. Sorry for the short chapter, but I feel that the early end emphasizes something I want emphasized, and it gets this chapter out, which I am quite thankful for. Neonic-634 got done with Chapter 6, so that will be published right on time, no delays. I'm going to be editing chapters 1-4 to be on par with this chapter, so chapter 7 might be a bit delayed. Neonic-634 and I need to talk about what to do for chapter 8, so I need to pester him a bit =P. Thanks for reading! Any reviews are greatly appreciated! There's a link to a forum as well as an update blog for this story on my profile, if you are interested.

 **NOTE:** After reading quite a few more stories, I have found a significant flaw in my writing style: everything is too...mechanical. There is not much feeling or emotion in the descriptions. I think the dialog is fine as it is, but everything else feels like it has very little emotion to it. This is something I hope to change from here on out.

Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by Nintendo. Any resemblance to real things is purely coincidental. All OCs in this chapter are owned by me.

* * *

 **Stolen World**

 _Ch. 5 - The Other Side ~Kira_

"Rose! Come on! We have to get away!" Kira yelled, rushing to her friend. "If they were too strong for him, then they are _definitely_ too strong for you! Come _ON!_ "

"B-b-b-but..." Rose sputtered, clutching Myodis's unconscious body. "He's supposed to be the _best!_ He was the leader of the best explorer team! He can't _lose!_ "

"Get _UP!_ You're supposed to be the best! P-please d-don't _lose_..." Rose choked out, breaking into tears. "Not _now_..."

"Rose, he'll be fine, now let's _go!_ " said Kira, pulling vainly at the pichu's tail. She had gotten a deathgrip on one of the machamp's arms and refused to let go. For a body as small as hers, she had a frighteningly strong hold.

" _Rose!_ _We have to-"_ Her paws darted to her ears as a loud whirring noise suddenly assaulted her ears.

" _ROSE!"_

"I'm not leaving him!" Rose yelled, barely audible through the noise.

"He can take care of himself!" she yelled back. "Just leave him!"

" _No!_ "

"We have to _GO_! We aren't strong enough!"

" _I DON'T CARE."_

Kira took a step back, shocked by her friend's stubbornness. "We aren't even supposed to _be_ here! We're going to get in so much trouble! And not just from our parents!" she said. "So come on, let's _g_ \- _aaagh!_ " Kira yelps as a heavy net slams onto her back. She tried to lift it, but her muscles gave out before it moved even a hair.

"What the heck" she panted "is this made of?" It looked like some sort of metal, but had none of the shine that all of the steel-type pokémon she knew sported. Before she could investigate any farther, the net began to grab the ground beneath her. She yelped as the net snapped suddenly together below, trapping her completely in it. She started frantically scratching and biting the net, trying anything to get out, but to no avail. When the net started rising, she went into a full panic.

"DAD!" she screamed.

"SOL! HELP!"

Kira looked over at Rose, relieved to see that her friend had come to her senses. The relief didn't last long, though. When she looked down at her father, she realized he was getting smaller by the second. And he was walking _away!_ She was panicking so badly her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

 _What...? What is he doing?!_

"Is...is he leaving us here?" she asked, barely a whisper. She didn't even want to _think_ about it, but what if they didn't notice? What if they thought it was too dangerous to try and save her? What if they didn't _care_? Before her line of thought could spiral any further down, she saw her father start to radiate a familiar pink aura and fly straight at the net. With her mother's power and her father's ingenuity coming into play, she felt her heartbeat calm. After all, they _will_ save her, right? Sol was raised past her, reaching with an outstretched claw to the tether binding the net and helicopter, when the glow faded.

"DAD!" she wailed as he plummeted past her.

 _He's gone...no one could survive a fall like that._ She puts her head on her paws, uselessly trying to hold back her tears. _Not even mom can heal_ death. _Nothing can. I'm never going to get out and he died trying to save me. Oh Arceus..._

"I'm here! Don't worry, I'll get you out!"

Kira gaped. With a single paw wrapped through the netting, her father had held on. But before she could celebrate, which she desperately wanted to do, the entire net was flung backwards as the helicopter rushed away. Panic set in as her home, everything she had ever known, shrunk to nothing in the distance.

 _Where are they taking me? What are they going to do to me?_ Her heart began to beat rapidly as she fell further into panic. Her breathing became ragged as the thumping in her chest became louder and louder. Soon her heartbeat had become loud enough to drown out the sound of the helicopter blades. Her vision blurred as she looked around for the source of the deafening sound. The fact that she might be the source herself was the last thought she held as she fell out of consciousness.

...

"Uggh" Kira put her head in her hands. "What happened?"

A voice called out. "Oh! You're awake!"

"Rose? Is that you?" Kira looked around but there was no light, wherever they were. She tried to stand, but her head swam and she fell right back down. "Where are you? What happened?"

"Well, you kind of just...fainted. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." _maybe..._ "Where are you?"

"Here." A faint light illuminated the small space. But to Kira's eyes, it was the brightest thing she had ever seen. She shielded her eyes and squinted at the source. Small yet bright sparks were jumping around Rose's cheeks, dancing along the surfaces that closed them in. Looking closer at the wall, Kira realized it was the same material the net had been made of. She put her paw on the strange not-metal-yet-metal and pushed, hoping.

"It won't budge. I tried." said Rose with a tone Kira hadn't heard from her before. Kira was used to the jolly, hyper, unsatiable excitement that exuded from the normally cheerful pichu. In its place was a somber, defeated tone. One that chilled her down to the bone.

"Rose...are-are you alright?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

The light died down as the sparks faded, leaving them with nothing but a faint glow.

"Rose? You alright?" Kira walked to her friend, concerned.

"Augh! Why are we so _**useless**_? We couldn't even freaking _wake him up!"_

"Yeah, but-"

"We're _useless_ , Kira! Don't act like we're not! You couldn't lift the net, either!" Rose shouted.

"Well at least I _tried!_ " Kira shouted back. "We wouldn't even have been _caught_ if you had just left him!"

"Don't even talk to me about him! He was the captain of the guard! He couldn't even do his job!"

That took Kira aback. Rose insulting Myodis? That wasn't right. Kira looked at the machamp, worried over the fact that he was still down, even after their shouting contest.

"Uh, Rose."

"What?"

"How long was I out?"

"It's pretty hard to tell time when you're in pitch black darkness alone."

Kira sighed "Any guesses?"

"A few hours maybe? Why?"

Kira walked over to Myodis and placed a paw over his chest. Relieved, she let out a sigh. "Thank Arceus, he's alive."

"So?"

Kira gaped at Rose. This wasn't like her at all. "So he didn't die? Arceus Rose, what happened to you? Just earlier you were bawling because he _fainted_."

Rose fell on her rear and sighed. "I don't know. I guess...I guess I just expected more from him."

"I don't think it is fair to base everything that one battle. That nidoking was _insanely_ powerful. I mean, he knocked down _houses_ with that earthquake. And if I remember my typing lessons, nidoking is part poison, so fighting types are at a disadvantage."

"Yeah, but still!"

"I mean come on, he _annihilated_ that houndoom! One punch and it was over!"

That brought a smile to Rose's face, and seeing her friend finally cheer up brought one up on her.

"Yeah, that was pretty funny. 'Good luck with- _BAM_ '" Rose laughed. "But I see what you mean. The nidoking blocked every move Myodis threw at him. There was definitely a difference in power, there. So how about we even that difference?"

"Huh?" Kira tilted her head, confused. "What do you mean?"

"We should train, get ready to take on that whatever comes." Rose explained. "To be honest, I don't know if I could stand being unable to do anything again. I hate feeling useless. You up for it?" she asked, putting out her paw.

Kira sighed. She hated fighting, she really did. But if it would help her friend's morale in this trying time...

"Alright, let's do it. To not being useless." Kira took Rose's paw in her own and shook it. The deal was made.

* * *

Thanks to Djsoresupon3 for his suggestions and help!


	6. The Princess

Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by Nintendo. Fia (and her family) is owned by Neonic-634. Any resemblance to real things is purely coincidental. All other OCs in this chapter are owned by me.

* * *

 **Stolen World**

 _Ch. 6 - The Princess_

"Are we there yet?" Daren groaned out tiredly.

"Almost, son, you should be able to see the house soon" James replied as he exited the freeway and onto a small country road.

"Are you excited about spending the summer at the new beach house Fia?" Delila asked.

Fia smiled and nodded her head before turning to look out the window of the car.

Seemingly endless fields of tall grass and flowers rolled by. Occasionally, a small farm would come into view only to pass by a moment later as the family van continued on its way. Fia watched the many miltank and tauros grazing in the fields, sighing to herself in boredom as she fidgeted with one of the blue pearls tying the ends of her ear tufts together.

"How did I get duped into taking the middle seat?" Daren grumbled to himself.

"You're _still_ complaining about that?" Delila asked her younger brother.w

"Why did Fia get window seat anyway?" Daren asked deciding not to answer Delila's question.

"That's because your big sister called dibs." Delila stated very matter-of-factly.

"How can she call dibs?! She's not even human!" Daren cried out in frustration.

"Daren Frederick Brand! That was very rude of you to say that! Apologize to your sister!" Mary scolded her son.

Daren flinched at his mother's words, suddenly feeling guilty for what he had said.

"I'm sorry Fia, I shouldn't have said that." Daren said to his sister, barely making eye contact.

Fia narrowed her eyes at her younger brother before smiling.

"Braixen!" exclaimed in response as she patted him on the back.

"That's much better, now you kids behave yourselves, we're almost there." Mary said.

A few moments later Fia flicked Daren's nose with her tail, smirking at him playfully, eliciting a chuckle from her younger brother.

The Brand's new vacation home came into view. It was a cozy little two story house sitting atop a hill overlooking the coast a few miles away. It was rather modest in appearance, considering the owners' fortune. When the van pulled into the driveway, an elderly maid came out to greet them.

"Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Brand. How was your trip?" The maid greeted politely.

"Hello Bell. The trip was rather monotonous, but quick. You didn't have any trouble finding the place did you?" Mary replied as she got out of the car.

"Oh no trouble at all. I have dinner in the oven right now. It should be ready by the time you all get settled. Uh, Mr. Brand, do you need any help unpacking?" Bell asked when she saw how much they had packed.

"No it's alright, I go- AGH!" James began to say before he fell over under the stack of suitcases he was carrying, "Maybe a little help would be nice, thank you."

"You're very welcome. Wanda, could you please come help Mr. Brand unpack?" Bell called for her pokémon.

A few moments later a slightly aged delphox came of the house. With a flick of her wand, she lifted their luggage off of James and levitated them to the door.

"Thank you Wanda. Alright kids, out of the van!" James said as he dusted himself off.

"Auntie Bell!" Delila and Daren shouted excitedly as they ran out of the van and embraced their caretaker.

"Oh look at how you've grown! I haven't seen you in a couple years. It's so good to see you! Oh my, is that little Fia?" Bell asked as Fia hopped out of the van.

"Brai!" Fia yipped happily.

"Goodness! You were still a fennekin when I last saw you! It should have been at least a couple more years before you evolve. How did you grow so quickly?" Bell asked baffled at Fia's early evolution.

"Eheheh… Funny story. A friend of mine gave me some weird looking pieces of candy a couple years back, and Fia kinda got a hold of them and ate them." Delila explained nervously.

Bell didn't respond at first. She could tell Delila was lying. Bell gave her a knowing smile before kneeling down in front of Fia.

"Well I don't care if you're a braixen now, you'll still be my "little" Fia." Bell said to her softly before giving her a hug and whispering in her ear, "Come see me later on tonight. Wanda and I are going to have a talk with you."

Fia was shocked at what she said. She stood there for a moment before coming to her senses and putting on a smile and heading inside before her parents could get suspicious.

 _Does she know? How could she know? It's not like Wanda could have told her what we've been doing. I hope she doesn't tell mom and dad._ Fia thought to herself in slight panic. She managed to compose herself by the time everyone settled in. Dinner was served about an hour later. Fia sat at a table set up for her and Wanda. She kept glancing over at Bell, still worried about what she had said earlier.

"You didn't tell her did you Wanda?" Fia asked the middle aged sorceress sitting in front of her.

Wanda quietly sipped her tea before responding, "I believe Bell told you that we'd talk about that later on tonight."

"I know, but I don't want mom or dad to find out. Not when I've come so far." Fia stated, nervously nibbling on a mago berry.

"Fia, you have to understand that they are simply concerned for your safety. Now stop getting yourself all worked up enjoy your dinner." Wanda said handing her another plate of mago berries.

She was still rather nervous, but managed to calm herself down. "Alright… I guess I can set it aside for now." Fia stated calmly. Finally allowing her hunger to set in, she started scarfing several mago berries at once.

Mary looked over at Fia and became upset at what she saw. "Fia! Slow down and chew your food, or you'll choke!" Mary scolded Fia, startling her into almost choking on one of her berries. "You see? Now slow down and stop eating like you just came in from the wild! It's very unbecoming of you."

"Braixen…" Fia replied dejectedly before popping a mago berry into her mouth.

...

"Wanda? I'm here, where's Auntie Bell?" Fia asked as she walked out into the back yard. The sun had gone down about two hours ago and Fia's parents had already gone to bed.

Wanda was sitting on a small bench overlooking the forest at the foot of the hill. "She's making sure your siblings are ready for bed. Come and sit." She said patting the seat next to her.

Fia walked over and hopped up on the bench. "Are you going to tell me why you and Auntie Bell wanted me out here?"

"Straight to the point huh? Well, I don't know what Bell wanted to speak with you about, but I wanted to tell you that I am very proud of how far you've come." Wanda said, gently placing a reassuring paw on Fia's shoulder.

Fia beamed at her mentor and smiled, "Thank you, I've been working really hard!" She exclaimed.

"I'm sure you have been. That's a very nice wand. Where did you get it?" Wanda asked when she noticed how unusually ornate Fia's wand was.

It was a beautifully crafted wand. The wand was masterfully carved from the burl of a redheart tree, appearing as if the wand itself was made of fire. It was hollowed out to hold a piece of charcoal in order to boost her fire based attacks. The tip was shaped into a two pronged flame holding the core chunk of the firestone that was cut to fit into her silver bracelets and anklets as well as the silver flame pendant she wore.

Fia held up her wand and smiled. "My sister commissioned a famous wood carver and gave it to me as a gift about a month after I evolved. She probably ended up spending some of her savings to afford it. I know she wouldn't have been able to afford it with the allowance mom and dad gave her alone. I felt so grateful for what she went through to have it made. I hadn't felt that grateful about almost anything in my whole life up until that point. It's very special to me." Fia explained.

"What a wonderful gift, you're very lucky to have a family that cares about you so much." Wanda said, smiling at Fia as she held up her wand.

"There you two are!" Fia's ears perked up as she heard Bell call out to them.

Fia scooted over as Bell walked up to the bench, offering her a seat. Bell sat down next to Fia opposite to Wanda.

"It's a beautiful night isn't it?" Bell asked, getting a nod from Fia.

"You know, it was on a night like this that I decided to start my journey when i was younger. Wanda was still a little fennekin back then." Bell stated, reminiscing in the past.

Fia listened intently. Bell has told her stories of her days as a trainer before, and they've always fascinated her.

"I've told you many tales of my accomplishments alongside Wanda, but I don't believe I've told you about my life before becoming a trainer." If Fia wasn't paying attention, she sure is now. Bell looked down and sighed. "Before I was a pokémon trainer, I was living with my aunt and uncle in a small town in Kalos. I didn't have very many friends growing up, and it got rather lonely at times. When I turned 15, my uncle gave me an egg. He told me to fill the egg with my hopes and dreams, so that when it hatched, my new friend could help me make those dreams a reality." Bell paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.

She looked down at Fia, who stared up at her eagerly waiting for her to continue. Bell smiled and said, "I wanted to explore the world around me. I wanted to have experiences that not many people could say they've had. I wanted to push myself to my limits and become the best I could be. I wanted to become a pokémon trainer. A few months later, Wanda hatched, and I told my aunt and uncle what I wanted to do." Bell looked away sadly, getting a worried look from Fia.

Bell sighed. "They weren't exactly supportive. Ever since my parents passed away and I was put under their care, they were always concerned with my wellbeing. They didn't want anything bad to happen to me, and as a result I was rather sheltered. However, despite their concerns, they knew that I had grown, and I had a partner I could count on." Bell placed a hand on Fia's shoulder. "You need to tell your parents of your hopes and dreams, even if it worries them. You can't keep hiding your secret training forever, eventually you're going to run out of 'rare candies'." Bell said winking at Fia knowingly.

Fia took a moment to absorb the information she had been given. Smiled and nodded to Bell. "Brai!" She exclaimed.

"Good. Now I imagine you and Wanda were planning on doing more training, so I won't keep you. just make sure you don't stay up too late. Goodnight." Bell said as she stood up and headed inside.

Fia waved at her before turning to face Wanda.

"So what do you have planned for training this time? We haven't seen each other since before I evolved. Maybe you could teach me more about how to use my wand." Fia asked excitedly.

"Actually, there isn't much else I have to teach that you don't know already." Wanda replied.

"What?! But how? You haven't taught me anything about my wand. Sure, I've taught myself a bit after I evolved, but there's gotta some neat tricks or cool techniques you can teach me!" Fia was confused. How could Wanda have nothing more to teach her? There's so much for her to learn still.

"That's because you've gotten to the point where teaching you any more would only hinder your development. Everything I've taught you has been rather basic. How to properly summon up your inner fire, how to anticipate your opponent's next move, how to dodge. I've taught you the necessities. Everything you learn from this point onward is to develop your own style of battling. You need to learn how _you_ fight, not how _I_ fight, and that is something that I cannot teach you. You must teach yourself now." Wanda explained.

Fia was a loss for words. She needed to teach herself now, and she didn't have the slightest clue as to where to start.

Wanda noticed her plight and made a suggestion, "Why don't you try challenging some of the wild Pokémon in this forest? They'll probably be rather easy for you at this point, but it would probably be best for you to start off light. You shouldn't throw yourself at anything that could pose a serious threat to you until you've at least started to develop your way of battling." Wanda gestured to the forest at the foot of the hill in front of them.

Fia was apprehensive at first, but managed to steel her resolve. "Alright, I'll give it a shot." Fia announced before starting down the hill.

"I'll be right here waiting for you so don't worry!" Wanda called to her from the bench.

"Thank you, I'll be back later!" Fia called back as she stepped through the treeline.

...

"Rraaagh!" Roared Fia's opponent as the tan and cream colored streak rushed towards her, glowing white. Fia rolled her eyes and sidestepped her opponent, allowing him to slam into a tree behind her. "Ooooww…" The linoone managed to pick himself up, stumbling for a moment before shaking it off and turning to face Fia.

"Y'know, that double-edge might actually do some damage if you'd just hit me with it." Fia stated, putting her paws on her hips. "Seriously, are we done? So far you've nearly gotten knocked out about four times, and I haven't even attacked you yet." Fia asked disappointedly.

"I'll show you!" The linoone shouted as he readied another double-edge.

"Dear Arceus." Fia sighed to herself as she elected not to dodge this time. Instead she pulled out her wand and held it sideways in front of herself. A swirling disc of blue light materialized in front of her. The linoone slammed into it headfirst, knocking himself out.

"Wanda wasn't kidding when she said that the pokémon in this forest couldn't put up much of a fight." Fia muttered under her breath as she looked down at her fallen opponent. she twirled her wand in her paw before sticking it back into fur of her tail.

"Woah! So cool!" exclaimed a young pachirisu that sat a few yards away. Fia had inadvertently attracted a small following of young pokémon who were enthralled by her battling skills. Fia was a little embarrassed at the attention she was getting.

"Aw, it wasn't that big a deal." Fia stated under a mask of modesty. _It really wasn't that big a deal._

"Wow, who are you gonna fight next?" asked a little buneary.

"I bet my dad could give you a challenge!" suggested a poochyena pup.

"Why bother? She could totally beat up your dad." the buneary asked.

"What?! No way, she's strong, but she can't be that strong! Even if she can beat him, it won't be that easy." The poochyena replied feeling insulted.

"Nope. I bet a battle with your dad would end faster than this one!"

"You take that back, or I'll eat you!"

"No you won't. You _like_ -like me too much."

"N-no I don't! Shut up!"

"Yay! You beat up big bwuduh!" a young zigzagoon pup cheered whilst his two friends were arguing.

Fia giggle to herself as the children continued to squabble amongst themselves. She sat down on a log by the river. She took out a mago berry from her tail fur and bit into it, savouring its intense sweetness. Allowing herself to relax, she looked at the forest around her. The full moon was high in the sky, and the stars were clearly visible. The forest had a peaceful glow to it, illuminated by the starry night sky. The occasional hoot of a noctowl resounded through the forest, reminding Fia that the forest also housed an unseen element. A volbeat and illumise couple were dancing in the distance, giving the understory of the forest a unique presence that stood out.

As she sat there enjoying her snack, she pondered on what to do next. She's already fought several pokémon, and it couldn't have been more than an hour. _It's pretty clear that I'm probably gonna be working on developing my own battling style for a while. What am I gonna do when vacation is over? I can't be doing this in the city, it would attract too much attention…_ she thought, finishing her snack. _Whatever, I'll worry about that later. Right now, I gotta find my next challenge._

Fia was shaken from her thoughts by a cacophony of low buzzing. Her ears perked up at the sound and she got up to search for the source of the noise. Suddenly, a pink blur ran across the river a little farther downstream. Fia got a clear look at it when it stopped to look behind itself before dashing away.

 _Was that an espeon? They're not native to this forest. What's one doing all the w-._ Fia's train of thought was interrupted when the buneary screamed.

"EEEEK! It's a beedrill swarm!" She cried as she clung to her poochyena friend.

"Quick everyone, into the bushes!" Fia commanded, scooping up the linoone's unconscious body and tossing him into the bushes ahead of her.

Just as everyone managed to find a hiding spot, about twenty beedrill zoomed by overhead. If the beedrill saw them hiding, they weren't interested as they continued in the same direction the espeon went. After several tense seconds, Fia felt it was safe enough to come out. The children followed soon afterward.

"Where are they going?" the little Buneary girl asked still clinging to her poochyena friend.

"They're probably chasing that espeon." Fia explained as she stared into the treeline.

"Why are they chasing him?" the pachirisu asked, holding onto a stick he'd found.

"I don't know, they usually keep to themselves. That pink pokemon must've wandered close to their nest or something." the poochyena explained.

"What are we gonna do?" the pachirisu asked, finally dropping his weapon.

" _We're_ not doing anything. _I'm_ going after those beedrill and _you're_ staying here." Fia commanded firmly.

"But we wanna come with you!" the pachirisu whined.

"No. It's too dangerous. You guys wait here. I'll take care of those beedrill and bring that espeon back." Fia stated, pulling out her wand and dashing farther into the forest.

A few moments of silence followed until the little zigzagoon pup poked his head out of the bushes.

"Yay! Pwiddy fawks lady gunnuh go beat up meanie beedil!"

...

By the time Fia managed to catch up to the beedrill swarm, she had found them flying around a clearing in front of a cave. She hid behind a tree a few yards away from the clearing and observed them from there.

 _The espeon is probably hiding in that cave. Beedrill aren't exactly known for their patience, so why are they waiting?_ Fia pondered as she poked her head out to get a better look. She noticed a few red splotches leading into the cave. _Damn, looks like he got hurt pretty badly. Odds are he's probably poisoned too. Poor thing, beedrill venom is supposed to be particularly painful._

Fia drew her wand from her tail, and conjured up several pink orbs. _I only get one freebie, so I'd better make sure to hit as many as I can. I'm glad I opted to learn psyshock, I hear beedrill have crappy defense._ Fia took a deep breath, before she launched a volley of pink orbs all over the clearing. The unfocused attack managed to catch the beedrill off guard, almost half of them fell to the ground unconscious, unable to withstand the physical psychic assault. "Holy crap, that's _pathetic._ " Fia muttered to herself as she watched them fall.

There were still about a dozen beedrill left. They all turned to face the treeline where the attack came from, and let loose a barrage of poison sting into the forest. Thankfully for Fia, she had already moved to a different spot shortly after launching her attack. She hid in the bushes on the opposite side of the clearing, readying her wand. When the beedrill ceased their attack, six of them slowly flew into the forest to search for their attacker. Fia leapt out of the bushes behind them, raising her wand as the tip ignited with a golden flame. Before the beedrill could react, a pillar of bright yellow flames sprung from her wand. A wave of fire washed over them, charring their bodies and singing their wings. One had managed to get out of the way, and it quickly flew into the trees. "Dear _Arceus!_ Is that all?! I'm not even warmed up!" Fia shouted in frustration.

Everything was calm in the clearing. It seemed as though the beedrill had fled, but the quiet buzzing amongst the trees told Fia that the fight wasn't over. She held her wand up in front of her as she backed up towards the mouth of the cave, not wanting to leave her back open. Soon the six beedrill that left earlier flew into the clearing in front of Fia, and let loose another wave of poison sting. Unable to dodge, she used protect. The tiny glowing stingers bounced harmlessly off the wall of light Fia held up.

Suddenly, the beedrill that had escaped her flamethrower came back and charged at her from the side while its friends kept firing off more stingers. Fia didn't dare try to move out of the way. If she did, she would have risked getting hit with poison sting. "Clever little bug." She muttered to herself. Her protect began to flicker as she kept it up, and she realized she needed to do something quickly. Fia tried to angle the shield towards the charging beedrill, hoping that she could at least block its attack before she tried to roll out of the way of the stingers. To her surprise, as she angled the barrier, the stingers began to ricochet off the shield, many of which ended up hitting the approaching beedrill. As the charging beedrill fell to ground, the stinger assault ceased. _Sweet! Saving that little trick for later._ Fia thought to herself.

Enraged, the rest of the beedrill rushed at Fia from all directions. Fia rolled out of the way of three of them and blew another away with flamethrower as she stood back up. " _Alright!_ Now things are starting to heat up!" She shouted out, forming a wide grin as she felt a rush of adrenaline. Quickly switching targets, she managed to knock out another before it could get too close. A third beedrill charged at her, flying low to the ground. Just before it could hit her, Fia leapt over it. "Down you go!" She shouted before blasting it, point blank, into the ground beneath her.

There were only three left now. Two of them charged at her, while the third fired of pop shots of poison sting. Fia was beginning to get tired. Dodging them had become increasingly difficult, and she couldn't find the time to slip in another attack.

 _Okay,_ maybe _I overestimated myself just a_ tiny _bit._ She thought as she was backed up against a tree. With a beedrill in front and on each side, she couldn't roll out of the way. The stingers on their legs began to glow as they readied a three pronged assault of twineedle. Fia had to think fast.

Okay _, this is bad! C'mon c'mon c'mon! I've gotta think of something!_ Fia thought in panic. A moment later, an idea came to mind. It was something she had never tried before, but she had no time to ponder it's validity as the beedrill rushed her.

"Here goes nothing!" Fia said to herself as she pointed her wand down at her feet. A gush of fire impacted the ground, and Fia was launched into the air. "WOOHOO!" She shouted in glee as the beedrill missed their target and ended up embedding their stingers into the tree.

"WOOAOAAHH!" Fia cried out flailing her arms as she flew through the air. She landed on her bottom a few meters away from the beedrill. "Ooooww. It's gonna be a while before I try something like _that_ again." Fia grumbled to herself as she stood up, rubbing her behind. She turned around to face the last three beedrill, who were still desperately trying to free their stingers from the tree.

Fia raised her wand up at them, igniting her golden flame. "Now buzz off!" she shouted as she let loose a flamethrower upon her foes. The beedrills' stingers popped out of the tree as they were blown away from the force of the attack. They landed, unconscious, somewhere amongst the underbrush of the forest around the clearing.

Relieved, Fia let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "Whew, glad that's over." She said as she twirled her wand in her paw before placing it back in her tail fur.

Fia turned to face the cave entrance. _Alright, now to go help that espeon. Don't you dare croak before I save your furry pink butt. I did not put myself in danger for shits and giggles._ Fia paused at that thought before glancing around the clearing and smiled. _Who am I kidding? I would have done this regardless!_ She thought before giggling to herself and entering the cave, lighting her way with the flame of her wand.

The clearing was quiet until a high pitched squeal broke the silence.

"So… AWESOME!" The pachirisu from earlier shouted as he pressed his paws against his cheeks.

"Shush! What if there are more beedrill?" Snapped the poochyena pup in a harsh whisper.

"Yeah, maybe we should go before more show up?" The buneary girl said, nervously glancing around her.

"But she's _so cool!_ Are you guys really scared of those stupid bugs?" the pachirisu asked.

"N-no! But if our parents find out where we've been we'll be in _so_ much trouble!" the poochyena pup replied nervously.

"Erk- But… Okay, c'mon let's get outta here." The pachirisu said, not wanting to get into trouble.

The children headed back to their respective homes, carefully stepping over the unconscious beedrill littering the forest floor.

...

Fia slowly walked through the cave, following the trail of red on the floor. _This guy's a trooper. If these red smears are anything to go by, I should have found him passed out on the floor already._ She thought to herself as she kept walking.

As the splotches started becoming more frequent, Fia felt she must be getting closer. _Okay, he should be around this chamber_. As she approached the entrance to the inner chamber, she could hear a faint distorted warbling sound. _What is that?_ Fia thought as she slowly approached the chamber.

Just as she walked through the entrance, she saw a stream of pink light streaking towards her. "Crap!" Fia shouted, startled by the sudden assault. Reacting quickly, she threw up protect, blocking the attack. As the shield came down, electricity began coursing through her wand. Sparks and arcs of electricity enveloped the tip before she let loose an expanding wall of crackling energy into the chamber. The shockwave clearly hit it's target as Fia heard a pained grunt before the muffled thump of someone hitting the ground.

"Shoot! Jumpy moron!" Fia cried out in agitation, at both herself and the espeon she was trying to rescue. She ran over to where she saw him lying in the cave. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, he's still breathing. Alright, let's get you outta here." Fia said as she picked him up and hoisted him onto her back. "Ugh, I hate heavy lifting. Poor sod better be thankful I'm doing this for him." She grumbled to herself as she exited the cave and headed back to her house. As she made her through the forest, she cringed, realizing what she would have to do when she got back home. "Oh boy. _This_ is gonna take some explaining."

* * *

 **[A/N]** Introducing Fia, Neonic-634's character in the story, and one that has a few interesting things about her. You'll have to wait to find out what they are though ^.^. Not sure when chapter 7 will be out, with college stuff really hitting high gear AND my computer's keyboard breaking (and randomly fixing itself, only to break again) at the same time. I bought a notebook to start writing in, so I'll be able to write everywhere, now. I'll be posting any parts that I have trouble rewording in a google document that I will post in my profile. All author's notes can be found in the usual place, in the forum. (Link at the bottom of my profile).

Only Neonic-634 and I worked on this chapter, so no credits here, sorry ;^;


	7. First Contact

Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by Nintendo. Any resemblance to real things is purely coincidental. All OCs in this chapter are owned by me.

* * *

 **Stolen World**

 _Ch. 7 - First Contact_

Kira yawned loudly. "Geez, how far are they taking us? I feel like we've been in here for _hours!_ "

Rose snorted. "How would I know? I'm not psychic."

"Ugh" came another voice.

"He's waking up." Kira said, walking over to Myodis.

"Might want to warn him of the ceiling. I would prefer him to _stay_ conscious this time." Rose said with a smirk.

Kira giggled.

"I heard that." said a voice from the darkness

"The snorlax awakens!" Rose gasped, giving Kira another fit of giggles.

"I could do without the sarcasm." Myodis said, his annoyance palpable. "Mind telling me where we are, instead?"

"In a crate." Kira said, making Rose laugh. Myodis rolled his eyes. "No clue about the _crate's_ whereabouts, though. We've been traveling for what at least _feels_ like hours." Kira finished after the truck hit a pothole, the resulting jolt reaffirming their continued movement.

"You now, you two seem _way_ too happy about this." Myodis said.

"Let's just say happy is better than the alternative, alright?" Kira countered. "Oh, by the way, do you have a bad headache? You were unconscious for a really long time, so I'm a bit worried you might have a concussion."

Myodis grinned. "Nope! Going to take more than a giga impact to do that."

His smile faded. The rumbling of the engine, and thus the vibrations the pokemon inside had gotten used to, had stopped. It wasn't long before the group started hearing voices. All three were surprised; they couldn't understand what the voices were saying. That had never happened before, pokemon could _always_ understand each other before.

"There's a dangerous pokemon in there. One strong enough to make nidoking use _giga impact._ I do _not_ want to open it!" said a voice from outside the container.

The unintelligible voice said something back, sounding very angry.

"Fine! Geez! You don't have to _threaten_ me." the second voice responded.

The three pokemon grouped towards the voices. They shared a determined look between them before Myodis nodded at Rose, and she let the last of her sparks, and thus the rest of their light, go out. They weren't going to give in and make this easy for their captors. At least, not without a fight.

 **...**

Archer sat waiting in the infirmary, thinking about how the fight had gone so wrong. He looked towards the ward housing his injured houndoom, worried.

 _Those kits...we were ready for the machamp, but not those damn kits. That pichu's charm attack was insanely effective. I didn't even know it could_ be _that strong. Almost none of our pokemon would attack with any force at all after that. If reinforcements hadn't come..._

He shook his head

 _Better not to think about it. They came, so we didn't need to deal with it._

He stood up, pacing the room to help his thoughts.

 _The eevee, though. I want that eevee. She knew what she was doing._ _Those swift attacks weren't from panic; she had_ meant _to miss us; she was zoning us._ _She seemed to know the damage every move would inflict, and how to mitigate it, something a kit like her shouldn't be able to do..._

He grinned.

 _Yes, she'll be a great addition to my roster. But first, I'm going to have to break that spirit of hers._

...

"You better live. Archer will skin me alive if I let you die."

 _Who said-_ her thoughts were interrupted as feeling came back to her damaged nerves. Thoughts wouldn't come to her anymore; only pain was able to make it through. So she did the only thing she could: she screamed.

"Calm down! Please!" the voice yelled over the din. "Here, I'll pour some ice water over your burns, but _you have to calm down!_ "

The unbearable pain diminished, if only slightly, by the freezing water rolling down her back.

"Where," she managed to gasp out. "Where am I?"

"In the infirmary." The voice responded.

"Infirmary?"

"A place humans take their pokemon to get healed from serious injuries."

She didn't like the sound of that. The way it was worded made it sound like the humans, whatever they were, _owned_ the pokemon. Like they were property.

"What type of pokemon are humans?" she asked.

"Humans aren't pokemon." the voice laughed. "They don't have a type, nor are they able to use attacks like pokemon can. But they are far from defenseless. They might not have the brawn to fight pokemon directly, but they have the brains to more than make up for it. They are able to make contraptions from nothing that can do things beyond your wildest dreams." the voice explained, moving into Kira's line of sight.\

The pink and cream colored pokemon, or at least Kira was fairly certain it was a pokemon, she hadn't seen its like before, had huge ears with what looked like a curly ponytail coming out below each side.

"Alright, the swelling seems to have stopped, at least. I'm going to treat your cuts now, okay? It might sting a little, your cuts are pretty deep."

 _A little? If my cuts really are deep enough, then this is going to hurt a_ lot _._ she thought, bracing herself.

An boy, was she glad she did. When the medicine washed over her cuts, it felt like Zapdos himself was raging in her cuts.

"Dear _Arceus!_ " she gasped. "Not even sitrus berries hurt this much! What the heck are you using?!" she asked accusingly.

"It's disinfectant. If you know how to treat it better, be my guest." the pokemon huffed, turning to leave.

"I didn't mean to insult you." Kira apologized. "I'm just used to another way of healing."

"Another way?" the pokemon nurse asked intrigued, turning back.

"Yeah, my mom was the healer of our town. She...she..." Kira trailed off.

 _Mom, oh Arceus, how could I have forgotten? Oh, Arceus..._

She broke down into tears.

"Mom, dad..." she cried.

The nurse sighed. "You aren't the first one who was taken from their family by Team Rocket, and I doubt you'll be the last. Though I will say you and your pichu friend are the first children they have taken for _combat_ rather than as hostages."

The pokemon got up and began mixing some berry juice together in a bowl. "I was taken from my family a long time ago. I was young, not as young as you, mind, but a kid nonetheless. Back then, I was scared as could be. I was panicking. Did they want me to battle? I had no battle experience at the time. Hell, I _still_ have no battle experience. I was lucky, though. They wanted an audino for healing, away from prying eyes."

The audino smeared the thick berry paste she had made over Kira's cutes. Much to Kira's surprise, the sting that healing berries normally had was barely even there. Her shock must have been showing, as the audino smiled and explained.

"I normally wouldn't dilute the mix, but from how you reacted before, I figured this was your first time being injured this badly. Most of the pokemon here are used to the pain at this point."

"By the way, where _is_ 'here'?" Kira asked. "All I know is that we were in a crate moving for _hours._ "

The audino laughed. "Only the humans know where 'here' is. And from what I can tell, they're going to keep it that way. All I know for sure is that we're in a large building complex in the middle of a forest. They don't let anyone out far enough to explore more than that." she shrugged.

Kira began to drift off. "Wha-?" she slurred out.

"I mixed a bit of sleep powder in the blend. The berries will help you heal, but you really need your rest. Both of your friends are safe and sound, sleep in their rooms nearby. If you wake up before I get back, just call for Jennifer, alright?"

"Oh..kay." she muttered as her consciousness faded.

 **...**

The first thing Kira noticed when she woke up was the absence of the scorching pain she had felt last time. The second thing she noticed was that one of those strange creatures, one of those _human_ things that audino was talking about, was towering over her. One of the things that stole them away from their families, attacked their friends.

A rage unlike anything Kira had felt before rose within her. With as loud of a roar as the young eevee could manage, she launched herself at the human. Taken off guard, he was thrown to the floor with a yelp as she landed on top of him.

Just as Kira was getting ready to turn his head into a fine mist with a swift attack, Jennifer rushed into the room.

"Oh Arceus, get off of him! You have to stop!" she screamed, diving at the enraged pokemon. The audino tore the eevee off of him, Kira's claws taking some of his shirt along with her.

The human calmly got up and looked directly into the flailing child's eyes.

"My name is Archer. Tomorrow, you will be put in the arena. If you survive, I might be able to make something useful out of you. Otherwise, well," he shrugged. "I guess you would prove to be as pathetic as we thought. Try to prove us _wrong_ instead." he finished as he headed out the door.

 **...**

Archer smiled after the door closed.

 _She even has the willingness to kill. I really hope she lives through tomorrow. She's the most promising subject we have had in a while, and it would be a waste to have her die right away._

* * *

 **[A/N]** Thanks for reading this far. I know it was a little bit late, and I'm sorry. This was meant to be quite a bit longer, but I guess that will have to wait until chapter 9. My co-author hasn't responded in a long time (for most likely stupid reasons, I know he's alive and able to talk), so I'm basically going to have to wing chapter 8. The rest of the author's notes will be in the usual place, the forums, with a link at the bottom of my profile. Please review, if you would! I would love to know what you guys think so far! I think this was a pretty good chapter, but it felt too short...

Thanks to Djsoresupon3 for helping edit! (There is a link to a public edit document on my profile)


	8. Who They R

Notes at the bottom. Sorry for being gone for so long D:

Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by Nintendo. Fia (and her family) is owned by Neonic-634. Any resemblance to real things is purely coincidental. All other OCs in this chapter are owned by me.

* * *

 **Stolen World**

 _Ch. 8 - Who They R_

Sol couldn't tell if he had been out for hours or mere minutes. All he knew for sure is that he was in pain, although it wasn't nearly as bad as it was before he blacked out. The beedrill stings he had sustained earlier had faded into numbness, but there was still a throbbing ache in what felt like every muscle in his body. He couldn't quite recall what had happened in the moments before he blacked out; all he could remember was a flash of light before his body seized up. As Sol began to wonder what had happened, several thoughts and ideas swam through his head, none of which were coherent. He began to stir when he heard voices. They were strange voices, none of which he could recognize or understand. Even if the voices were speaking a language he understood, he was still too groggy and out of it to process what they were saying. Sol gradually drifted back into consciousness as the voices grew louder and more erratic. Light began to filter into Sol's eyes as he cracked them open. His vision was still blurry, but he could make out seven figures in the room. _Room? But I was in a cave earlier. Did one of them bring me here?_

"I'm sorry for being so reckless."

There was a voice Sol could understand. She sounded sad and guilty, like she had done something wrong. _What's going on?_

"It's alright, no need to be so hard on yourself. You are unharmed and safe. You even managed to rescue this espeon."

That's two voices he could understand. This one sounded older. Not elderly, but she still sounded like she had more than a few more years worth of life experience over him.

Sol tried to listen in as much as he could, but all the voices blurred together, and he couldn't really make out any more of what to two voices he could understand were saying. This continued for a couple minutes longer as Sol continued to regain his consciousness. When he could finally process what was going on, he had to suppress a gasp as he tensed up in fear at what he saw.

 **...**

"I know she came back unharmed, but that doesn't matter! She took on a swarm of angry beedrill! She could have died! This is why she shouldn't be battling!" Mary shouted in panic.

"Honey, I know what she did was reckless and inexcusable, but whether or not Fia can battle can wait for later discussion. We should be addressing what's going on right now. Fia brought back an injured pokemon, we need to focus on that for now." James reasoned, trying to calm his wife down.

"And that's another thing! She brought some wild pokemon from the forest into our home!"

"Mary, espeon are not native to this area. It must have gotten separated from its trainer."

Mary and James continued to argue while Bell tended to the espeon.

"Daren, I need some disinfectant and some bandages, could you grab them from the medicine cabinet please?" Bell asked as she finished cleaning Sol's wounds and administering the antidote.

"Sure thing auntie Bell!" Daren said before heading out of the room.

Bell set bottle of poison antidote on the nightstand next to the bed Sol rested on. She stood up and turned to Wanda, "Wanda, please keep an eye on the poor thing while Delila and I go and get some sitrus berries."

"Del." Wanda replied sitting down on a chair across from the bed. Fia hopped up in the chair next to her. Fia sighs and slumps down, still upset.

 **...**

"This is all my fault…" Fia mumbled looking down at the floor.

"Hey, don't give yourself too much credit. I share a fair amount of the blame too. After all I'd been training you all this time, _and_ sent you into the forest. Don't be so hard on yourself." Wanda consoled Fia, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Is the espeon going to be okay?" Fia asked worriedly.

Wanda smiled and waved her hand dismissively, "Beedrill venom is painful, but it's rarely lethal. He'll be weak after losing so much blood, but don't worry. Belle said she'll be taking him to the pokemon center in the city tomorrow to see if he needs a blood transfusion. As long as he stays in bed and gets plenty of rest, he'll be just fine."

A loud crash resounded throughout the room and glass clattered to the floor as the window above the bed was broken.

 **...**

"Agh! What was thaaaaa-!" Sol exclaimed in confusion, unaware of the invisible barrier covering the window. Not a moment later he found himself sliding down the tiled roof outside the window, unable to get a proper foothold with his injured legs constantly giving out. As he approached the edge of the roof he saw that he was at least 10 feet off the ground. Sol tenses up, bracing for impact with the ground below. As he tipped over the edge, he was surprised to find himself suspended in the air, his body wrapped in a pink glow. He started floating back up towards the window. Sol began to panic when he realized he was being brought back into the house with those strange hairless pokemon. He flailed in the psychic grip, trying to break free. Frustrated at how strong the grip was, he fired off a psybeam at the window. The shot went wide and hit the wall next to it.

"Let me go!" Sol shouted as he was levitated back through the window.

Wanda held him firm in her psychic grip above the bed, "Calm down, you're going to aggravate your injuries."

"I said let me go!" Sol continued to struggle, trying desperately to break free.

"You ungrateful punk! Is this how you thank people?!" Fia shouted angrily.

The two hairless pokemon still in the room stopped bickering and grew worried at how Sol was behaving. One calls out the door, and soon after the three others come back.

"I said let me go!" Sol cries out in desperation and fires another psybeam at Wanda.

Wanda leans to the side letting the psybeam pass by while keeping her wand raised to maintain her hold on Sol. The attack continues on, heading straight for the group of hairless pokemon. Fia lounges in front of them and quickly throws up protect. The shot crashed against her shield, breaking apart into sparks of light before it dissipated.

"What is your problem?! We're the ones who _saved_ your pink butt, you idiot!" Fia exclaimed in frustration keeping her wand raised.

"You can't fool me you monsters!" Sol replied in anger.

 **...**

"Mom, dad, what's going on? Why is the espeon freaking out?" Daren asks nervously.

"I don't know, it's probably scared, or still thinks it's in danger." James responded, ushering his family behind himself.

"Wanda, could you please tell us what has the espeon so upset?" Bell asked politely, unperturbed in the slightest by the events unfolding.

Wanda nods her head and turns to the Sol. After a brief exchange between them, along with some agitated input from Fia, Sol finally calms down. Wanda gently set him down on the bed and sat down next to him. Fia also lowers her wand, but doesn't put it away just yet. The three of them converse for several minutes as Sol explains to them what had happened to him in the last several hours, his voice cracking occasionally. A minute or so into it, Fia gives her wand a half hearted twirl before putting it back into her tail, and hops up onto the bed next to Sol, placing a paw on his back.

Despite the entire exchange being in a language that humans normally can't understand, the tone and emotions were clear to everyone in the room. This pokemon had clearly been through quite the ordeal, and if his reaction upon seeing Fia's family was of any indication, whatever it was that happened didn't give him a good impression of humans. Once Sol had finished telling Wanda and Fia what had happened, Wanda stood up and walked up to Bell. They both relaxed themselves before closing their eyes, allowing Wanda to establish a mental link with her trainer. A few moments later they open their eyes. Bell frowned, looking upon Sol with pity.

"How unfortunate. No one should have to go through something like that." Bell says shaking her head.

"What's wrong? Why is the espeon acting like this?" Mary asked worriedly, seeing the look on her face.

"The espeon is indeed wild. He said that his daughter was stolen away, along with others from his home after it was attacked by a group of trainers bearing a strange symbol. He tried to follow them, but got separated when he couldn't keep up with the truck they had his daughter held in. It's very peculiar how he described the trainers though, it's almost as if he's never seen humans before." Bell explained.

James grew suspicious when Bell said that the espeon hadn't encountered humans before.

"Where is he from? Surely he must have at least heard of humans." James asked.

After another brief exchange between Wanda and Sol, Wanda relays what Sol told her to Bell.

"He said that while he doesn't know where his home is in relation to here, he does know that they had crossed the ocean to get here." Bell said.

James crossed his arms, not at all pleased with what he heard, "The only major landmass off this coast is one of the Pokemon Isolation Reserves. If he's from there, that would explain why he's never heard of humans before, but that also raises an even bigger concern. Whoever took his daughter would have needed some serious hardware to have slipped past the radar network monitoring the islands. Is there anything else he remembers about the people who took his daughter?"

Bell shook her head, "The only thing that stood out was the strange symbol they wore."

James sighed in frustration, "'Strange symbol' isn't exactly a sufficient description to draw any conclusions from."

A moment of contemplative silence passes, until Delila speaks up, "Oh! I have some art supplies that he can use to draw it with. I'll be right back" She said before running out of the room.

 **...**

Sol watched suspiciously as the human girl left the room, "Where is she going?"

"She went to get some stuff for you to draw that symbol you were talking about. That way we might be able to figure out who the creeps that took your daughter away are." Fia explained.

Satisfied with the answer, Sol starts examining the bandages he was wrapped up in. Fia sighed as she watched him glance over his injuries. She cringed when she looked at the singed fur around his electrical burns. They weren't serious injuries, and a bit of burn heal spray got them to stop hurting, but the fact that she was the reason he got them bothered her. Fia felt guilty for zapping him with her shockwave earlier in the cave. She reached into her tail to pull out one of her mago berries. She started munching on it, not to because she was hungry, she just needed something to soothe herself. She stopped mid-bite when she heard Sol groan. The injuries he sustained were finally starting to ache now that he'd calmed down from his panic and his adrenaline was spent. Fia pulled out another mago berry and offered it to Sol.

"Here, it'll help with the pain." Fia said as she held the berry in front of Sol.

Sol looked at the mago berry curiously, "What kind of berry is this?"

"It's called my favorite berry, just try it." Fia replied, gently nudging Sol's shoulder, urging him to take a bite.

"What's this? Fia willingly sharing one of her mago berries? The world must be coming to an end!" Wanda joked, dramatically placing the back of her hand over her forehead as she throws her head back. Fia scoffed in response.

"I take it this isn't something that happens very often?" Sol asked as he chuckled and took the mago berry Fia offered.

Wanda nodded her head, "Mhmm. Fia _loves_ mago berries. She keeps a not-so-secret stash of who knows how many in her tail. She's _very_ possessive of them and gets… problematic with anyone who tries to appropriate one of her berries. If she's _willingly_ offering you a mago berry, especially one from her stash, it is a _very_ special occasion." Wanda leaned forward and gave Fia a sly smile.

"I can't help but wonder just _how_ special it is." She said teasingly, eliciting a disgusted reaction from Fia.

"Ew, NO! Just no! He's already got a mate and kid. Besides that, he's almost old enough to be _my_ dad!" Fia barked back, repulsed by what her mentor was insinuating.

Sol chuckled to himself as he listened to the two fox pokemon. He sighed as he looked down at the berry in his paws. For a brief moment, he visualized himself back at home, sitting at the table, having dinner with his family and friends. Sol smiled at the memory.

"Aren't you gonna eat it?" Fia asked, breaking the brief reverie.

"Huh? Oh, yes. Thank you." Sol said as he was shaken from his thoughts.

"Ok. Careful though, mago berries are _really_ sweet. Especially mine." Fia warned.

"You say that like it's a bad thing. It's fine, I like sweet foods." Sol replied as he opened his mouth to take a bite.

The moment Sol's teeth sank into the mago berry and the juices gushed out and into his mouth, Fia had to place a paw over her mouth at his reaction. Sol's eyes went wide as his tongue registered the intense flavor. His whole mouth lit up with wild sensation. The flavor felt like it melted into his tongue, the juices saturating his taste buds with an unbelievably sweet tang. It was somewhat confusing for him how the berry was oh so _clearly_ sweet, yet his body started reacting almost as if it were sour, urging him to pucker his lips. Sol tore the berry away from his face, practically throwing it across the floor. Fia sprung into action, diving for the discarded berry and caught it before it hit the floor. Sol shuddered, a cool tingling sensation washing over his upper back, and face, informing him of the excessive intake of sugar. Fia couldn't contain herself any longer and burst out laughing, along with everyone else in the room.

"I was not ready." Sol stated flatly after he had regained his composure.

"Hahahahaha *gasp* ahahahh *gasp* ehehh… Dear Arceus, I thought you said you liked sweet food." Fia managed to say after calming down, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Never in my life have I ever known there to be such a thing as 'too sweet'." Sol stated, shuddering again.

"Well, she _did_ warn you." Wanda said with a wide grin.

Shortly after everyone had calmed down, Delila came back into the room with a small roll of canvas paper and a bottle of red paint under her arm.

"Hey, what'd I miss?" She asked when she saw everyone smiling and giggling.

"I'll tell you about it later" Daren told his sister.

Delila shrugged and walked over to the bed that the pokemon sat on. Sol's heart began to beat harder as she approached him, anxious about what he needed to do. She unrolled the paper, set it and the brush in front of him, and poured a small portion of paint on the corner. The whole room went quiet as they watched Sol stare at the paper. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, he dipped one of the tips of his tail in the paint. He paused for a moment to recollect the accursed symbol burned into his memory. Slowly, he started making slow, painful strokes on the paper, carefully etching out the simple design. Sol shuddered and started to tremble a bit as memories of the attack began to flash through his mind. He paused for a moment to calm down before continuing. When the picture was finished, a feeling of immense dread swept over everyone as they gazed upon the large red R on the paper. Gasps and sighs resounded throughout the room. Bell looked upon Sol with nothing but sympathy in her eyes.

"You poor soul, to have such misfortune befall you." Bell said, shaking her head back and forth.

Sol observed everyone's reactions, not at all comforted by their tears and gazes of pity.

"Why is everyone so upset? Is this symbol really that bad?" Sol asked, looking to Fia who seemed to be struggling to find the words she needed. He then turned his gaze to Wanda hoping for an answer.

Wanda placed a hand on Sol's back in attempt to provide him with some form of comfort as she explained what the symbol meant, "That is emblem of a criminal organization known as Team Rocket. A wretched group, the lot of them. Their hearts are as black as the uniforms they wear. They steal pokemon from their families and trainers in order to build an army they intend to use to conquer the world, and believe the pokemon they use to be nothing but tools, disposable, and things to be replaced if they seem to have lived past their usefulness."

Sol didn't really know what to make of it. A powerful organized group of criminals attacked his village. They took his daughter, along with Myodis and Rose. Sol wondered what they had planned to do with them, doubting whether or not he wanted an answer. Sol was disheartened, bringing his daughter back was quickly feeling more and more like a hopeless goal. Would his daughter be the same little bundle of joy he raised? Would Team Rocket turn her into a heartless fighting machine? Sol's head hung low, slowly falling to the bed as he became more and more aware of the scope of the situation. He wasn't even sure if Kira was still alive anymore. The moment that thought ran through his mind, his head fell between his paws. He pressed them against his head as tears streamed from his clenched eyes.

Fia hopped down from the bed, slowly making her way to the door. She reached into her tail for a mago berry to munch on, seeking to give herself some relief. Unable to bring herself to bite into her personal sanctuary, she stuffed it back into her tail and left the room. Bell sat down on the bed next to Sol. She gently stroked his back as he silently cried to himself.

* * *

[ **A/N]** Hiiiii again. Yes, I'm alive. No, I've not given up the story. It's just really hard to continue. I've been stuck on parts of chapters for _ridiculously_ long times, and with me being in DotA 2 tournaments and whatnot, it is hard for me to muster the drive to write (and then Legion came out...). Hopefully I'm able to get more done soon, but I can't promise anything. The story will be coming out with fairly large gaps in between at this point, though I'm not sure how long considering college is starting again on the 22nd for me (I tend to write _more_ with the free time in class, since I can't be doing anything else. I'm weird). Chapter 9 is probably about halfway done, but I need to write like 3+ battles in it, so it is going to be a while before I'm able to post it with the quality I've been looking to bring.

Neonic did most of the writing in this chapter, I helped with ideas, mostly. I consider myself a better editor than writer, to be honest.

Thanks to djsoresupon3 for some suggestions!

If you want to help out, wanna see if I'm alive, or if you just want to chat for a bit, PM me, I'll almost always respond quickly, and within a day at max. ^.^


	9. Hell's Gate

**Author's Note:** Hi! It's been years! Literally! Whoops. This is my best chapter to date, in my opinion. College got in the way of it, but this was the hardest chapter to write that we have planned, so it shouldn't have that much of a gap again. Like I said before, no matter how long this goes on hiatus, it _will_ be finished.

 **EDIT:** For some reason not everything was copied over when I exported it here, so you might see some errors or some things missing. Please PM me if you find any .'

If you want actual updates about how the chapter is going, go ahead and join this discord: /invite/aXksWtA I'm Amethyst Espeon there, as a throwback to this story!

* * *

 **Stolen World**

 _Ch. 9 - Hell's Gate_

Kira thrashed about in Jennifer's arms. Kicking and screaming as the door closed in front of her.

"Get back here!" Kira screamed at the closed door, rage clouding her mind. "I'll kill you!"

Jennifer struggled to keep a hold on Kira. Her arms and torso were scratched and cut as the enraged pokemon tried to tear herself free.

"Please calm down!" Jennifer pleaded as blood dripped down her arms. She whimpered softly as a claw found another soft spot under her arm, carving out a piece of her flesh. The audino's unexpected cry was enough to shock Kira out of her blind rage . Besides self-defense, she had never even attacked someone before, let alone attempt to _murder_ them.

"I-I'm...sorry." she murmured.

The audino's hold on her loosened and Kira was unceremoniously dropped to the floor. She gazed up at the damage she had done to her caretaker, horrified.

"I'm really sorry!" She apologized. "I...I didn't..." she trailed off.

Jennifer walked over to the counter and took a roll of bandages out of one of the cabinets. She sighed as she cut a length of gauze out of the roll.

"Would you...can I..." Kira sighed, trying to reign in her emotions. "Can I help?"

"Hmm?" Jennifer mumbled.

"I helped my mom out a lot in the clinic." She explained as she stared at the ground, not wanting to look the audino in the eyes. "I want to make it up to you."

Kira's courage wilted under the searching gaze the nurse gave her, but as it lingered her wounds bled onto the bandages she was preparing. She sighed. "Well you're not the first pokemon to injure me in a fit of rage. Although, not many apologize for it." She smiled. "If you could hold the roll down for me, that would be a start."

"Sure!" Kira said, relieved the audino wasn't mad at her. She leapt onto the counter and held down the middle of the roll with her paw until the gauze was unrolled. Once it was at the right length, she cut it deftly with her claws.

"Thanks dear," the audino said, impressed. "You know, I have no idea why Archer is so set on sending you to the arena. So few pokemon know how to do medicinal work. And with all of the injuries that come in, I'm always overworked. Having another pokemon around here, even if they just knew the basics, would be a lifesaver. Literally, in some cases."

"Archer?" Kira tilted her head. "Arena?"

"Didn't you hear him talking?"

"Those noises were _words?"_ Kira asked, incredulous.

The audino gave her a quizzical look. "You...couldn't understand him? I thought even _wild_ pokemon taught their children human-speak."

"Until they attacked my village, I didn't even know humans _existed,"_ Kira pointed out. "How would I know their language?"

Jennifer hummed thoughtfully while she finished bandaging herself. "Well, if you're going to survive here, you're going to need to learn how to understand them. When I think about it, I doubt the possibility of you _not_ understanding them even crossed any of the human's minds, since every pokemon here can." She sat down heavily on the stool next to the counter, her chin leaning on her hands.

"It might be hard to get this problem to their attention." She muttered, deep in thought.

"Can't you just...tell them? I thought you knew their tongue." Kira asked, perplexed.

"Well, we can learn to _understand_ their tongue, but most cannot _speak_ it. And for some reason, they are physically incapable of learning ours, though not for lack of trying. In most cases, at least that I know of, humans use a chatot to have back-and-forth communication. I've heard a rumor that a human and a psychic pokemon can use telepathy if their bond to each other is strong enough, but I've never seen it myself." The Audino shrugged. "So our problem is that the trainer with our resident chatot just came for a checkup on his pokemon yesterday. Which means he is probably on a mission today, and that could last days."

Kira groaned, frustrated at her inability to communicate with her captors. As she thought about it more, she began to realize just how dangerous her situation was. They could tell her that she is going to die tomorrow, and she wouldn't know until it was too late.

"So what am I supposed to do, then?" Kira asked, starting to panic. "If I need it just to survive, then what am I-"

"That doesn't mean you can't learn it yourself," Jennifer said, cutting her off. "You're a smart girl, you'll learn it quick enough. Besides, Archer gave me special orders to watch over you. That should give me enough leeway to see you more often." She stood up, carrying the roll of gauze back to the cabinet.

"What should I call you anyway?" Jennifer chuckled as she closed the cabinet. "I don't often get to talk to conscious wilds."

"My names Kira..." the young eevee said hesitantly. "What, do they just bring you random pokemon they knock out?

"No, they make better use of my time than _that_. In general, I take care of either human trained pokemon or wilds in need of emergency care. The thing is, they usually get that injured battling in the Arena." the audino said, her voice growing cold and distant. "The arena is dangerous. It's a pokemon battle, but completely someone thinks their best chance of winning is burning you alive, conscience be damned, they will. You don't fight for glory or to be the best, you fight for your _life_."

The young eevee's eyes widened, her ears flat against her head. "B-but I barely know how to fight!" she whimpered. "Why would they put _me_ in there?"

The Audino's smiled as she ran her hand through Kira's soft fur. "They believe you have potential. At least Archer does. He wouldn't be going out of his way keep you alive if he didn't. The ingredients for the salve I made earlier aren't cheap."

"But...but I only fought once! And I got knocked out in one hit!" she exclaimed.

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "You impressed _Archer_. That is neither easy nor common. If you impressed _him,_ I think you'll do fine. Now if you'd be nice enough to let me check your bandages, I'd appreciate that."

Kira nodded and jumped down off of the counter, wincing as she landed. Panic flooded her thoughts. If she had a hard time at full strength, what chance did she have when she was injured?

"Kira"

Scenarios of battles raced through her mind: crushed beneath rocks, zapped to a crisp, a bloody mess on the wall. _I'm not that good. Even if someone important thinks I am, there's no way-_

" _Kira!"_

The eevee's senses jolted back to reality as the audino shook her. "Calm down. A hurt limb isn't a cause for worry. You'll be ready for the battles to come, it's my job to make sure of it. Now, get up here." Jennifer said, patting the chair in the middle of the room.

Kira nodded and gave the audino a weak smile before hopping up onto the sheet-covered leather. Jennifer carefully unwrapped the eevee's wounds, nodding as she reviewed her work.

"The burn is already gone," Jennifer said, smiling at the noticeably shaken eevee. "You just need some rest and a little more of the berry mix and you'll be in top condition for the fight."

Kira sighed in relief. "Thanks. Maybe when this is over they'll figure out I'd be more useful as a medic than as a fighter." she shrugged "It's what I wanted to do back at home anyway."

"Maybe." Jennifer laughed as she gave the eevee the mix. Kira quickly ate the concoction, feeling desperate to be as healthy as she could be for what was coming her way. Kira curled up on the table, her tail next to her head as a pillow, and quickly drifted off to sleep.

...

Kira yawned as the light of the morning sun flooded in through a window. She sighed as she opened her eyes, remembering where she was. The window was barred, just like the days before, but at least the blinds were open this time letting the light bounce off of the chrome walls and countertops. Kira sighed. She was trapped, with no way out of the fight that was set for her.

She turned her head as the door slammed open to let in a sceptile flanked by two scrafty. With the number of scars that each had, it was clear that they had some serious battles in behind them. With the lack of mercy in their eyes, it looked like she was soon going to have some behind her as well.

"Come." the Sceptile ordered. The forest pokemon led her into a hallway where a human was waiting for them, motioning for her to follow behind the human It wasn't a long walk until they had reached an indent in the wall. Kira cocked her head. Were they waiting for something? Looking closely, the indents in the wall were similar to some of the sliding doors they had walked through. But this one didn't have handles for humans like the other door had. How were they going to open it? The human raised an eyebrow at her before spouting some 'words' at her and pressing another small protrusion. After a small wait, there was a _bing_ and the indentation opened up on its own. The human started making more of those noises. She knew they were orders by the tone of them, but there was no way she could understand him..

"He said _get in_ the sceptile hissed menacingly.

She jumped in after a quick apology, not quite sure what else to say. Free from the sinister grass pokemon's intense stare, she started looking around, curious what her new surroundings would hold. There wasn't much to see though. The chrome walls were brightly lit by intense lighting coming from the ceiling, leaving little left in the shadow.

It didn't take long before Kira felt movement. She expected it. What she _didn't_ expect was it to be the _floor_ that started moving. It started dropping at a fast yet not entirely uncomfortable rate. After nearly a minute, the elevator slowed down to a stop before reopening its doors to thick metal bars.

Kira jumped as a loud voice spoke up from behind her. She recognized the harsh voice as the Sceptile's who led her to the elevator.

"Since this is your first time, it's my job to tell you how things work around here. In front of you is the arena. On the other side of the arena your opponent is in the same situation as you. You are to fight until one of you cannot fight anymore. Do this however you wish, though I suggest just killing them, it's by far the fastest way." he finished in a sickeningly happy tone. "The fight begins as soon as the bars start to rise."

 _Well, seems they figured out I can't understand the humans,_ she realized.

A grating noise soon came from the gate as it began to open. With a gulp Kira ran out into the arena, hiding behind one of the many large stone outcrops littered across the field. She slowly peeked over the top of the rock, looking for her opponent. A small patch of patterned brown fur was dashing towards her end of the stadium in a rather erratic fashion.

 _A zigzagoon._ She dropped down, mind racing. _Looks young too. If I get into a narrow area, he shouldn't be able to maneuver well._

She jumped onto the top of the stone, quickly scanning for the terrain she wanted.

 _There!_

She quickly dashed towards the outcrop of rocks she had seen, running right past the zigzagoon. A startled yelp came from behind her. "Hey! Get back here!"

Kira chanced a look back and was startled by the zigzagoon quickly making up the distance between them, despite the erratic pattern the pokemon was running in. Just as the zigzagoon jumped at her with his quick attack, she launched herself to the side with a quick attack of her own. After hearing the fairly painful _thud_ behind her, she quickly decided the advantage of favorable terrain was better than a quick swipe at her opponent.

By the time she had gotten to the narrow choke point, she started to hear the telling patter of paws behind her. She immediately darted behind a rock, thanking her frequent races with her father for her endurance. Now with her opponent in an unfavorable environment, it was time to attack. She peeked over the rock and fired a quick burst of swift attack before ducking again and moving to a rock that could see her previous position. Before long, the zigzagoon poked his head around the corner looking for her. With a yelp, he turned and ran, stars close on his heels.

Kira quickly gave chase, shooting swift after swift at the panicking zigzagoon, his unique movement pattern hindering a quick getaway. By the time he ran into a corner, there were dozens of stars hurtling straight for him. There was a loud impact, then silence. Kira opened her eyes, still reeling from the bright burst of light that the stars gave off when they hit their mark.

The young eevee gasped. In front of her was a bleeding mass of fur. The red coat of the zigzagoon barely showed the rising and falling chest of a living thing.

"But...I..." she stuttered.

As Kira stared at the near-dead pokemon in a daze, a red and white ball came from the now visible rafter, bonking the downed pokemon before it disappeared into the ball in a glow of red light Immediately after, the ball started shaking side to side, followed by a _click_.

The sceptile's voice echoed through the arena. "Well done. Now go back to the cage. Your next opponent will be ready shortly."

Still out of it, Kira walked back to her side and into the elevator-cage. The loud crash of the gate hitting the metal floor shocked her back to her senses.

 _Why did it do that much damage? The pokemon we fought before could take hits from Myodis, how would_ I _be able to do that much?_

A chill ran down her spine. Jennifer said that they were testing her. If they were being careful, they'd start out with a young inexperienced wild pokemon and raise the difficulty accordingly. With what she showed, things were going to get hard _fast._

The tap of shoes on the floor echoed behind her. She spun around to see a human walking down a set of stars that had spread out from the side of the arena. At the top of the stairs Kira could see a large gathering of humans watching. From the way that they were staring it was obvious that they had seen her fight. Unnerved, she shifted her gaze back towards the lone human, trying her best to ignore the rest. He had picked up the orb lying on the ground and was making his way back to the exit. Kira sighed in frustration as she watched the stairs retreat back into the wall. Even with a door at the top, there was no way for her to get out that way with the number of humans at the top. Oh well, she would keep looking.

Kira shook her head. _Focus on the battles. Escaping means nothing if you do it as a corpse._ Scenarios flew through the her head, her heart still racing from the previous battle. The one thing she knew was, according to the audino, that they weren't going to send her against something deliberately to kill her. Everything else however, was up for grabs. When the gates opened, she rushed to the tallest stone she could find, desperate to figure out what she was up against. Jumping as high as she could, she hooked her paws onto the top of the rock. Hoping her opponent didn't hear, she scrambled to the top.

Thankfully, it wasn't hard to find her brown and beige opponent. Unfortunately, that was because he was already speeding straight towards her. "A child?" the linoone scoffed, "Fine. Stay still and I'll make this painless."

Kira's muscles froze in fear as the larger creature launched himself into the air, claws bared. When the linoone approached striking range Kira's instincts started to scream, putting her muscles back into action. Just before the slash attack could connect, she launched herself to the side, her quick attack just narrowly dodging a lethal blow. She gritted her teeth as her opponent's claws tore through her flank. Landing as far away as possible, she quickly sized up her wound. Bleeding but shallow, the gash wasn't deep enough to be worried about infection, nor in a critical area. Good. She turned her face to the linoone. If the zigzagoon had won, she likely would be alive, just knocked out. This linone on the other hand clearly intended to take her life. The stakes had been raised, and she refused to lose.

She knew there was a way to beat the linoone; _every_ pokemon had a weakness that could be exploited. Even the defenders back home came to the clinic bloody every once in a while. She just needed to find that weakness.

She dodged to the side with another quick attack as the linoone tried to slash her again, barely avoiding another injury. As she did, the linoone skidded to a halt past her. She smiled deviously. This fight wasn't going to be as hard as she had thought. The linoone that was often treated by her mother always had the wounds on his side as if something had blindsided him. But his stories always had _him_ finding his target, not the other way around. That means he just got outmaneuvered and struck down. This linoone seemed to be way worse. In a straight line, there was no way that she could get away. But even when she didn't immediately react, she was still able to dodge him if she moved just a little sideways. She just needed him to make the first move, and she had a pretty good idea of how to make him do so.

"Come on! Did you actually _need_ me to stand still to hit me?" she sneered.

"If you want to die slowly, that's fine with me!" the linoone snarled as he charged her, head down.

She pushed herself to the side as hard as she could to dodge the takedown, turning to launch a flurry of swift attacks into his side as he rocketed past. Not one to waste an advantage, she sprinted to the open area she had been avoiding last match. If her opponent couldn't turn well, then she'd put herself in a position where she could move however she liked. Heavy footfalls behind her warned of an incoming attack. Before she could move to dodge, the linoone's large body slammed into her. Skidding across the ground, she glimpsed a dark aura dissipating around him.

The fight at town square flashed through her mind. Meant to catch prey who were trying to escape, the dark-type move Pursuit reverses the target's momentum right before impact. If you're running towards it you don't get hit very hard. But if you're running away, it can be devastating

"You're a cheeky one, I'll give you that. But you pissed me off. No more playing nice. I'm going to tear off each of your limbs off one at a time, starting with your forelegs," the linoone taunted, slowly inching closer, dragging his claws and scraping them against floor.

Kira slowly backed up, keeping her eyes on the approaching hostile. _I just need to make it to the clearing. If I can make it there, I can run circles around him. I'll just have to find a way to stop pursuit from hitting._

 _Time to take a risk,_ she thought as she dashed off towards her goal. Hearing the linoone close behind, she jumped and twisted to shoot a swift at her opponent before sprinting off again to the clearing. Her effort was rewarded with a solid _thud_ as the stars impacted the linoone's head. Kira smiled to herself as the rapid patter of footsteps behind her resumed. She quickly headed towards a rock, knowing a pursuit was coming. Jumping at it, she quickly turned around and used it to launch herself at her oncoming opponent. Unready for the sudden turnaround, the linoone tried to dodge. The quick attack impacted him as he turned, his forward momentum making the attack much stronger. She quickly turned around sprinted off again.

Finally, she reached the clearing. Now all she had to do was wait.

"You done running?" the linoone asked as he entered the area.

"I don't know, are you done getting hit?" Kira taunted.

The linoone howled as he dove at her seeking to end the fight. After practically announcing his attack, Kira easily dodged the double-edge and let her opponent run straight into a rock. Before he had a chance to recover she threw herself at him with a quick attack, launching him straight back into the boulder. Kira quickly dodged away as his claws flew in front of her face as he rolled over.

The linoone was clearly in pain now, but just as clearly did not want to back down.

"You," he panted, "are not normal. You weren't running away, were you?" He shook his head, trying to clear his vision. "Doesn't matter. I've beaten owned pokemon before, I won't lose to a whelp like you."

Kira sighed. _You already have... you're doing the same moves that got you hit the first time._

Dust kicked up as the linoone recklessly flung himself at Kira, but in the out in the open area Kira had plenty of room to dodge. A sickening crack and a scream sounded behind her as the linoone impacted another boulder behind her. Kira shuddered as she turned around. A bone was protruding from his knee,blood gushing out from the wound. Kira gasped as the linoone, breathing raggedly, tried to stand up.

"No!" Kira cried, rushing over to her opponent. "You'll just injure yourself more!"

The linoone scowled, clearly holding back tears from the agony. "I don't need help from _you_."

The eevee gaped before she raised an eyebrow. "What, so you're going to keep fighting me with a bone sticking out of your leg?" she asked incredulously. "Look, I already probably killed someone. I don't want to kill anyone else. Just like, pretend to faint or something so the battle can be over," she pleaded.

"I refuse to go down like this," the linoone growled, pushing himself up the rest of the way on his good leg. "I won't be taken down by some kid!"

"Why?! Why is your pride worth your life?!" she asked, her pleas falling on deaf ears.

"JUST. DIE!" the linoone shouted as a massive beam of energy erupted out from his mouth.

Kira tried to quick attack away from the hyper beam, but her tired legs wouldn't move fast enough. The dazzling beam seared through fur and flesh as it grazed her, making her scream in pain. The beam left a large gaping hole in the rocks as it tore through them, leaving nothing but dust in its wake. The light and pain left spots in her vision, and she carefully danced around as it cleared up, hoping to dodge any follow up attacks that the linoone was going throw out. The silence beyond her own movement caused her to stop, though. She should at least hear the Linoone's breathing, considering how hard he had been breathing _before_ the attack.

When the spots cleared from her vision, she glanced towards her opponent and almost threw up on the spot. The linoone was in a pool of his own blood, unmoving. Even in the best of times, hyper beam puts an enormous amount of pressure onto the body, tensing every muscle and every joint; every part of the body goes into overdrive to put out the attack. With the linoone already so badly injured and broken…

The thought chilled her to the bone. This linoone had to have known it was going to kill him with the state he was in. What was so bad that _dying_ was the better alternative? As the thought passed through her mind, the pain from her fight started to settle in. She could feel all of the small lacerations from the fight start to sting, but her biggest pain was in her sides. Her legs felt like they were turned into jelly as the pain in her flank intensified. Her breathing was ragged by the time she staggered back to her cage. Plopping down on the hard metal floor she started licked her wounds, wondering what they would throw at her next. Having beaten a fully evolved pokemon who _clearly_ wanted her dead, the only thing she knew was that things weren't going to be getting easier any time soon. She sighed as she put her head down on her paws. This wasn't going very well. At the same time, she had also seen Pokemon much worse off than she was. At least she was _alive._

 _And like mom always said, "You do your best with what you've got."_

She stood up and looked over her body again. The cuts and scrapes from the rocks weren't bad. None of them deep, none of them in areas that worried her. The gash was deep, but it didn't touch anything vital organ-wise nor movement-wise, and it had already started to clot up. It would be painful for a while, but shouldn't stop her from doing what she needed to do. The hyper beam's damage, however, was another thing altogether. All of the fur where the beam made contact was gone, leaving the pink flesh underneath seared and burnt. With the adrenaline in her body ebbing, the pain was intense. Her only comfort was that it too hadn't hit anything that would hinder her too much. She would have a more vulnerable side and some pain, but she could deal with that. Whoever watched over her was merciful this time, and gave her a couple savory minutes to rest and get ready.

Without warning, the gates opened. Startled from her thoughts, Kira sprinted to the rocks in front of her cage, scrambling to get a view of her opponent. But before she could get to the top, a massive burst of flame blew over it. She fell backwards from the rocks onto her back, flinching as she landed.

 _Okay, maybe that_ is _something to worry about_ she thought. _But later. Worrying about a wound won't help me here._

As she flipped over, she noticed something wet on her hind leg. The cut from her last fight had reopened when she had fallen, leaving a trail of blood from where she had fallen, a line of fur turning crimson red.

 _Ignore it. Pain and injuries are temporary. Death isn't._ She told herself. _Just think. The other pokemon obviously knows flamethrower. It used it on reaction, so it's likely a fire type. I don't have anything that can compete. Running into any visible area is going to end badly. So..._

She looked around for rocks that she could maneuver through, but none would get her close to where her opponent would likely be standing.

 _I mean, I could always wait for him to come to me. No,_ she shook her head _he has a better ranged options than I do. He could just go around one of the corners farther away._ _So...what options are left_.

She hadn't heard any they were coming slowly or they were waiting for her to show herself again, so she probably had some time. She glanced to the sides, trying to find another option. There were rocks that she could sprint to without much worry of retaliation, but none of them would give her a better angle. The chrome walls beyond the rocks, even after all of the fighting done in the arena, didn't even have a mark on them. Looking closer, she realized that they were actually slightly reflective. The black smudge on them was slowly making its way towards her own, and was quite a bit farther along than she had originally thought. On the other side was more of a clearing, but that made it an even worse option. She already tried to go over them, and she would rather stay unfried for as long as possible. So that left only one option.

 _Well, Dad did say that I should be able to learn dig._ she sighed _Might as well give it a try._

She drove her paw into the ground and paused. She had thought that she had to learn it somehow, maybe practice digging for a little bit, get really good at it or something. She had dug holes in her family's backyard when she was younger, but it definitely wasn't what she would consider the move dig. _Let's try this again._ She pressed her paws against the ground, shifting her focus from digging a hole to the action of digging itself. The ground beneath her paws suddenly felt soft, and malleable. _C'mon… C'mon..._

Suddenly, the ground gave way, and she found herself quickly swimming through the dirt. _No time to ponder over it now._ She thought as she started towards her target. She had wondered if she would have to guess where her opponent was while under the ground, but once she was really digging, she could feel every step her opponent made. His soft footfalls on the ground made an obvious beacon to where he was, compared to the utter stillness of the rest of the arena. She dug straight for his feet. Since _she_ just realized she could do this, there was no way he could know. As she prepared to launch her attack, bits and pieces of the earth around her stuck to her paw, ready to give her punch a much bigger _oomph_.

 _Alright. Let's go._

A red underbelly filled her vision as she came out of the ground. The houndour let out a surprised yelp as the eevee's earth covered paw pounded into his stomach, launching him a few meters across the arena. However, the houndour was fast to recover, landing on his feet as a dark aura surrounded his body.

"You're a cheeky one," he said as he released a dark energy, a sharp curve racing towards her as he dashed at the eevee. Kira quickly went underground, fearing the dark pulse as it raced towards her.

"Oh no, no you don't, not a second time!"

A strange ball of light formed in the houndour's open mouth as he approached the hole.

Bending down, the light shot out of his mouth into the hole, gathering bits of dirt and dust as it flowed through the passageway. Kira quickly shot out of the hole, the light-water shooting out after her. The light-water shot out of the hole straight up like a geyser. Kira tensed up as the droplets fell back down, worried what they might do; she had never seen a move like this! But when it fell on her, she was surprised to find out it _was_ water, or at least a very close imitation.

"What...was that?" she asked aloud. But as she was gazing upwards, another spout of water hit her in her flank, _hard_. Her paws left the ground as the geyser launched her into the air. She quickly turned midair to land on her feet, the attack bringing her back from her momentary lapse in concentration.

"Water-type move, definitely," she said to herself as she shook her coat dry. "But fairly weak. Could probably stand a few more of those." She quickly dove back underground, a plan already forming in her head.

"Seriously?" the houndour groaned. He quickly sprinted over to the hole and glanced down it, his mouth already filling with his attack. "I hope you drown this time!" he shouted down the deep hole as the water started filling it up. A small rumbling was all the warning the houndour got as he rolled to the side to avoid taking the super-effective dig straight on. Kira smirked as she slammed into her opponent using the force of the tide of water. The houndour gaped at the angled hole in surprise, before quickly refocusing on his adversary. They circled each other for what seemed like an hour, carefully avoiding missteps and stones. The eevee knew she was in better shape than her opponent, but she could tell he had been trained. Or at least, better than the other two she had fought. The linoone willingly fell into her trap and was just using blunt force attacks, letting her take advantage of him. This time her opponent used her attacks to _his_ advantage. He just hadn't known she could use it that way, though to be fair she didn't think of it until tide was at her back. Even if she had taken less hits, he hadn't been in two fights right before. If she was hit hard, she wasn't sure she could get back up. And considering how much her captors had seemed to care about her opponents before, falling wasn't a choice.

The houndour shot a flamethrower, cutting it short as Kira used quick attack to dash around it. A arc of dark energy formed around the front of the houndour as he rolled to the side, dodging the eevee's blow. Kira barely bounded off a boulder before it hit her, the dark pulse carving out a slice of the rock before dissipating. She grimaced as her body turned towards the houndour; he was already preparing another dark pulse, and now she had no way to avoid it. She clenched her teeth as she focused on putting everything into the tackle attack she had started when she threw herself off the boulder. It was too late to stop, so she had to keep going with everything she had. The dark crescent cut deep into her chest as she flew towards the houndour, her blood streaming behind her. Her body hit the houndour with a force she didn't know she had, driving the dog pokemon well into the ground.

Panting, she slowly climbed her way out of her takedown-created hole before a beam of red light sailed past her. The houndour, blooding seeping out him, was quickly cloaked in the radiant red light, before being absorbed by it and traveling back through it. She shook her head in confusion before limping back to her cage. She fell to the ground, once more wishing that she knew how to use wish. She tried her best to lick the wound clean as the gate closed in front of her.

 _Hopefully,_ she thought _that will be the end of it. There's no way they can expect me to go another round, can they?_

For a couple of minutes, it seemed like she was right. But then the loudspeaker came on again with that horrible sceptile's voice. "Congratulations on beating the pup. This will be your final battle. Good luck."

What scared her the most wasn't the fact that she had to fight another battle. It was the fact that the sceptile sounded completely sincere in wishing her good luck. She quietly left her cage, tucking her ears as far back behind her head as possible before she peered out from the rock in front. What she saw on the other side of the ring brought forth two utterly conflicting emotions, only one of which she knew well. Across the arena was a houndoom. But not just any houndoom, it was the one that had hit her mom back in her hometown. Rage and fear bubbled up from deep within her. In the back of her mind, she knew she could not fight this monster. But there was _no_ way she was going to show him deference. She stood there behind the rock, motionless, as she tried to collect her thoughts. Try as she might, though, one of the emotions was bound to boil over, and boil over it did. She screamed in rage as she launched herself towards the black and orange demon-dog.

The houndoom didn't even try to dodge as the eevee came at him with a takedown. But he neither flinched nor hesitated as he swatted his child adversary with a paw cloaked in a dark aura. Kira vision went dark as his paw hit her stomach, the pain of being slammed into a wall knocking her senses back into her. Her eyes flitted open to see a burst of flame billowing towards her. She could barely think through the pain, it was so intense. The last thing she saw before the pain took over was a man in light blue hair reaching down to tap a red and white ball onto her as he pet her opponent. She sighed in relief when unconsciousness took her.


	10. The Journey Begins

Thanks for reading this far! I deeply appreciate it ^.^ Thanks to those in the discord that helped correct/edit this chapter!

As always, critiques and comments are deeply appreciated! Remember you can join my discord with the invite code aXksWtA if you want updates/to yell at me to make more.

* * *

 **Stolen World**

 _Chapter 10 - The Journey Begins_

It was very early in the morning. Starlight still dominated the sky as the first rays of sunlight blanketed the horizon with a thin layer of pink and orange. The light had yet to pierce the forest canopy, leaving the world held within enshrouded in shadow. The nocturnal pokemon of the forest were still up and about, with only a few retreating for their nests and dens in anticipation of the morning sun.

The halls of the Brand residence were veiled in darkness, its occupants still fast asleep. The curtains over the windows glowed in deeps shades of blue, stifling what little light there was to come in. A door to one of the bedrooms slowly creaked open. A small shadow peeked out before darting away. Silent footsteps pattered down the hall.

"Okay, there should be an exit downstairs," Sol whispered to himself as he crept down the steps.

Once he reached the bottom floor, Sol ran across the foyer, finding himself facing a large, ornate set of double doors. He stood up on his hind legs, hooked his paws around the handle, and tried to pull down to open the door, only to find that the handle wouldn't budge. He tried again with the handle on the other door, but it wouldn't budge either. Confused, Sol tried to push the handle up, pull it out, and push it in. All he got for his efforts was a bit of rattling wood and metal as the door wriggled around. Puzzled, Sol sat down and looked up at the door.

"I don't understand. Why won't it open?" He sighed.

"It's locked, dummy."

Sol whipped his head around to see Fia standing at the top of the steps; her paws on her hips looking down at him with a smirk on her face. She hopped up onto the railing and slid down the stairs. Just before reaching the bottom, she planted one paw on the end of the railing, vaulting herself off the stairs and landing gracefully on the floor.

"Fia? What are you doing up this early?" Sol asked.

Fia walked across the foyer, up to the front door next to Sol, "I'm going out to train with Wanda."

She leaned forward, firmly prodding his chest with an accusing digit, "What are _you_ doing up so early? You should be in bed and resting."

"Well uh… I'm-"

Before Sol could finish his sentence Fia cut him off, "Would it have killed you to wait just a bit longer before you go running off to save her?"

"Yeah, actually it probably could! How can I just sit here while my daughter is being held against her will by this Rocket Team?" Sol snapped in a harsh whisper.

"First off, as you are now, you'd most likely end up getting yourself killed. Second, you don't even know where to _start_ looking for her. And third, one does not simply walk into a Team Rocket hideout." Fia listed off calmly. "Unless your name is Red." She muttered offhandedly.

"Every moment that I waste sitting around doing nothing is a moment that could be my daughters last! I _have_ to save her!"

"Dear Arceus, you're hopeless. Well if you _insist_ on needlessly throwing your life away, there's the door." Fia sighs, frustrated with how stubborn sol was being. She reaches up and turns a knob above the handle before opening the front door.

"And just where do you two think you're going?" A voice came from upstairs.

Sol and Fia looked up to see Belle and Wanda standing atop the stairs. Belle gave Sol a polite smile, while Wanda shook her head at Fia.

Sol stood his ground and said, "Look, I really do appreciate everything you've done to help me, but I have to save my daughter as soon as possible!"

"I understand that you are concerned for your daughter's safety, but I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to leave in your current condition," Wanda replied firmly.

Sol frowned at Wanda and lowered into a crouch, "I'm leaving, and you can't stop me!" he said, his gem shining with power.

"Actually," Wanda whipped out her wand. Sol's legs buckled, and his gaze was ripped downward as he was firmly pressed to the floor. The glow of his gem abruptly flickered out as he lost his concentration, "I'm fairly certain that I can." She said.

"Arrrgh! Come on!" Sol exclaimed, frustrated at the obnoxious difference between their power. He braced his legs against the floor beneath him, struggling to push himself back up to stand.

After observing the events unfolding before her for a moment, Belle raised her hand, gesturing for Wanda to stop. She released her grip on Sol and put her wand away, allowing him to get back to his feet. As Sol picked himself off the ground, Belle looked to him and spoke.

"I think I have a rather simple compromise to the problem at hand. Prove to me that you can handle yourself well enough in battle, and you may leave to find your daughter."

 **...**

"So let me get this straight, I just need to beat this human in battle and I can go?" Sol asked Fia as they headed out into the forest away from the house.

"You don't even have to beat her, you just have to hold out until Belle thinks you can take care of yourself," Fia explained.

Sol looked ahead at Belle, sizing her up. He had no idea what humans were capable of, but from what he's seen so far, he wasn't exactly intimidated.

"I don't get it. What would be the point in fighting her? It'd likely be other pokemon I'd be fighting, not humans." Sol asked.

Fia turned to face him, confusion apparent on her face. "Are you stup-... oh, right. You've never really dealt with humans before." Fia mumbled to herself, remembering Sol's situation.

Clearing her throat Fia began to explain. "Humans rarely battle themselves. Even then, it's rarer for a human to be able to match a pokemon in battle. As a result, humans instead train pokemon to battle with them."

Sol frowned at Fia.

Sighing, Fia waved her paw dismissively. "Look, I know what you're thinking, but as much of a one-sided relationship as this seems to be, it is just as beneficial, if not more so, for the pokemon as well."

Fia turned around to face Sol as they walked. "You see, humans exhibit of a level of complex thought and reasoning far beyond that of most pokemon. That's not to say that they're more intelligent than pokemon, many pokemon are just as smart, if not smarter. However, unlike pokemon, humans are almost entirely out of touch with their natural instincts. Without these primal urges driving many aspects of their decision making, they can think and cooperate with each other better than pokemon can. Because of that, almost every human is connected to one another in one big community spanning the whole world. For a pokemon, that can be a safe haven above and beyond anything they could find in the wild; protection from predators, advanced medical care, abundant access to food, luxuries, and comfort; I could go on, but I think I've made my point."

Fia turned forwards, sighing and shrugging her shoulders.

"Although, despite the benefits, wild pokemon generally choose to stay in the wild. Humans have a lot of rules and regulations put in place to help keep their society from falling apart. These restrictions tend to conflict with a pokemon's wild, instinctual nature, so many tend not to bother."

Sol nodded his head, absorbing the information provided. "So just because humans don't have their instincts they can think and organize themselves better?"

"Lemme put it this way. What are the odds of pokemon like ariados being a contributing member of your village?" Fia asked.

Sol frowned, thinking back to the ariados and galvantula that attacked his class during their excursion into the mystery dungeon. "Unlikely."

Fia smirked and chuckled to herself a bit. "Well, over in the Kalos region, there's a company that employs ariados to help weave clothing using their webs."

"Clothing?" Sol asked.

"Ugh. Right, uh. Clothes are compiled fabrics that humans wear for warmth, and also just to cover their bodies. Humans are generally very body shy." Fia explained.

Sol nodded his head, understanding what Fia told him. He suddenly paused for a moment, imagining an ariados weaving tiny hats and scarves for children. He chuckled to himself at the ridiculous image.

Fia and Sol continued to converse for a bit until Wanda called out to them from farther ahead.

"We've arrived at a decent spot for the battle."

 **...**

Sol and Fia stepped out into a large open clearing. The morning sun painted the sky above them many hues of pink and orange. A subtle breeze passed through, rustling the grass beneath their feet. The sounds of the forest seemed to quiet down around the clearing, as though the forest itself was aware of what was to take place and paused it's morning rituals to observe the small group gathered.

Sol and Belle stood across from one another at opposite ends of the clearing. Belle looked to Sol and spoke to him. Fia leaned over to him to translate.

"She's asking if you're ready."

Sol said nothing and simply nodded his head as he lowered into a crouch looking at Wanda.

Wanda was standing off to the side when she saw Sol looking at her. She smiled and shook her head. "I will not be your opponent Sol."

Sol tilted his head. He looked to Belle and saw one of those red and white balls in her hands. He prepared himself as Belle lightly tossed the ball out into the clearing. With a loud pop, the ball split open and a mass of bright, white light burst forth from within. It coalesced into a spherical shape before growing four short limbs and a small serpentine head. The white light faded as the large pokemon impacted the ground, indenting the ground beneath him with deep impressions of its feet. Its body appeared to be made of numerous plates of hardened stone, with short limbs filled with muscle, and fierce red eyes that cut into Sol's very being.

"I am Rocky. We will battle until one of us is knocked unconscious, or until the lady says to stop." the golem said in a plain tone of voice.

 **...**

Fia stood off to the side between them. With a twirl of her wand, she ignited the tip, holding it above her head.

"Are you both ready?" She calls out, receiving a curt nod from both of them.

A moment of silence swept through the clearing. Sol's chest tightened in anticipation. He glanced over his opponent, trying to sort out a plan of attack within the few short moments he had before the battle started.

Fia swung her wand down, "GO!"

The moment the call left her mouth, Rocky's foot impacted the ground. The earth trembled for all but a moment before the ground beneath Sol began to fracture. With little more than a sliver of a second to react, Sol dove to the side, narrowly escaping the jagged maw of stone that erupted from ground beneath him. Only having barely avoided the devastating attack, he rolled up onto his feet and started to run. Rocky continued his relentless assault, stamping his foot into the floor over and over, forcing up more and more sharp earthen spires from the ground. Sol continued to bob and weave, leap and juke. For every few steps he took, a new pillar would abruptly decorate the battlefield. This dangerous beat went on and on as Sol danced to the rhythm of Rocky's feet.

 _Just how long does he plan on keeping this up for?_ Sol wondered to himself as he leapt through yet another cluster of rocks. A quick glance at his surroundings painted his face with the sudden realization.

With a glance to the left; rocks. With a glance to the right; rocks. There were rocks to his rear. There were rocks everywhere. Everywhere Sol looked, there were more and more clusters of jagged earth. Room to maneuver sparse. With the last few stomps resounding throughout the forest, Rocky had placed the last spire. The once open clearing had become a jagged garden of stone. Sol flicked his head back and forth, analyzing the situation and reassessing his options. During his light panic, Rocky calmly hopped forward, curling in his extremities.

Sol's head snapped up, flicking his ears from side to side. A low rumbling echoed throughout the clearing, growing louder and louder. Crouching low, he prepared himself for whatever was to come. The ground beneath him began to shake as the rumbling drew closer. A loud crash alerted Sol to Rocky's approach as he barreled through one of the spires directly behind him. Sol whipped around and saw Rocky spinning head over heels kicking up dust and dirt behind him as he aimed to run his target over. With hardly a second to react, Sol leapt to his right. Unfortunately, he ended up slamming into one of the spires erected earlier. Rocky managed to clip Sol's side, dislocating his shoulder on the way by. Grunting loudly, Sol stumbled back from the blow and quickly limped around the other side of pillar. He peeked around to see Rocky speeding off and out of sight, hidden amidst the craggy forest.

Off to the side of the clearing, Belle, Wanda, and Fia sat amongst the branches of a nearby tree, observing the battle from a more elevated position.

"Braaaaii… brai braixen brai," Fia muttered wincing at the sight of the impact.

" _He doesn't seem to be faring very well Belle, do you think he's had enough?_ " Wanda asked, communicating through their psychic link.

Belle shook her head, "Not just yet. It would be impractical to come to any conclusions just because he sustained an injury. Besides, anyone expecting to walk away from battle unscathed is either leagues above their opponent or arrogant. Let's see how he handles the situation."

Taking the opportunity to rest for a moment, Sol leaned against the pillar and inspected his injury. The fur was scraped away on the area above his shoulder where he was hit. The skin was rubbed raw as he bled slightly from the rosy patch of vulnerable flesh. His dislocated shoulder jutted outward slightly. The skin warped around the unnatural position of the bone. Taking a deep breath, Sol steeled himself in preparation. Bracing his leg against the ground, Sol stood and pinned it down with his other paw. Gritting his teeth, he slowly rotated his torso, pulling his dislocated leg out further and gently sliding the ball of his joint back over beneath the socket. Sol carefully eased up on his pull, allowing it to slowly inch back into place. Finally, the joint reset back into his shoulder with a muffled pop. A wave of relief washed over him as the intense pain abruptly lessened by an order of magnitude. He crumpled to the ground to rest, his shoulder still swollen and hot. A few tenuous moments passed as Sol laid panting on the floor. As the pain receded, he slowly rose to his feet and tested his leg. Putting weight onto it, he found himself in more that a bit of discomfort, though the pain was bearable. Hearing the rumbling of Rocky's approach, Sol jogged off, keeping his distance from his opponent while he formulated a plan.

"BRAAAAAAIII! Brai braixen xen xen braixen brai!" Fia cried out, massaging her shoulders in sympathy.

Wanda sat wide-eyed at what she just saw. " _That's amazing! Where did he learn to do that? Wild or not, for a pokemon to know how to treat an injury like that on the spot is unheard of. Besides that, without any kind of anesthetic, the pain would be immense!_ "

Belle sat quietly, a small smile crept over her face as she carefully studied Sol's every move. She chuckled to herself, garnering the attention of Wanda and Fia.

"Perhaps he isn't as 'wild' as we thought," Belle said as she continued to watch.

Clouds of dust shrouded the center of the clearing. Rocky's whirling bulk sped toward Sol, aiming to press him into the dirt beneath him. Dirt and small chunks of stone rained down upon the area. Loud rumbling crashes resounded throughout the forest at irregular intervals as Sol pulled several short bursts of quick attack to weave his way through the spires erected earlier. Slowly but surely, Sol had managed to guide Rocky into enough of the pillars to clear out a decently sized area. Once more, Sol made a mad dash toward another pillar with Rocky close behind. With a leap up into the air, he jumped up onto the pillar and kicked off of it. Rocky passed underneath him and slammed into the pillar, reducing it to another scattered pile of rubble. As Sol descended from his jump, he held his paws straight out in front of him. The ground seemed to dip where his paws touched the earth, before it gave way altogether as he descended beneath the surface. Rocky broke out of his roll and turned around to see that Sol was no longer there. The battlefield grew quiet. Sol sat in his tunnel waiting patiently, silently monitoring the earth around him. A full minute went by with no notable activity.

 _He's not doing anything… Why isn't he-_ Sol paused mid sentence. A small grin slipped over his muzzle as he realized what was going on. _He doesn't know earthquake._

Tunneling his way over to the other side of the clearing, Sol burst out of the ground and into the air. The gem on his forehead shined brightly before a stream of magenta light shot forth. The beam crashed into Rocky's side. Bright sparks and swirling colors disoriented him for a moment before he shook it off and turned to face Sol. All he found was another hole in the ground. Rocky stood stock still. Anticipating an attack from below, he tried to limit his movements, both to prevent Sol from pinpointing his location on the surface, and also to feel for any vibrations in the ground. A few more seconds pass before Sol sprung out of the ground again to take another shot. Rocky hopped forward, curling up for a rollout in an attempt to catch Sol in the air before he could dive into the earth again. The psybeam Sol let loose was shredded apart over Rocky's spinning body. Suddenly, the ground beneath Rocky gave way. He tumbled down and landed on his back. Sitting up, Rocky glanced around him. A pitfall. Sol had dug out a pitfall for him.

Numerous beams of light rained down upon Rocky from the top of the pit. Sol's gem burned bright as he let loose shot after shot. Rocky quickly brought his arm up, and turned away to shield his head. The psybeam barrage impacted his body with a cacophony of muted thumps. Rocky reached out at the pit wall with his other arm. Grasping the earth tightly, he ripped away a chunk of stone. Turning quickly, he brought his arm up with the rock held tightly in his palm. His arm tensed up, muscles contracting. Rocky's claw folded inward slightly, putting immense pressure on the rock he held. With a ripple of motion flowing down his arm, the rock burst forth from his palm. Sol barely had time to react. Swinging his head to the side, the stone shot past him, grazing his cheek and taking a small bundle of fur with it.

Seizing the opportunity, Rocky thrust his foot into the ground. A spire rose up from beneath him, launching him into the air. Sol hopped back as his opponent came back down. Rocky stood and raised both his palms up, firing off a double shot of rock blast. Sol sidestepped the first shot and ducked under the second before slipping into the earth again. Rocky clenched his fists. Frustrated, and at a loss for what to do, he began to panic. Quiet rumbling could be heard every now and then. Rocky turned back and forth, glancing all around him in anticipation for another attack. He couldn't risk another rollout with the potential for more pitfalls. All he could do is return fire with rock blast when Sol popped up again. Even then, the window for attack was slim, with Sol commanding the timing for his shots. Rocky's internal calculations were interrupted when Sol leapt out of the ground right beside him. Time seemed to slow. Rocky looked up at Sol as he sailed above his head. He grit his teeth as he raised his arm to fire off another rock blast point blank as Sol twisted around in the air to face his opponent. The muscles in Rocky's arm began to tense as he built more pressure behind the stone in his palm. Their eyes met. Rocky's eyes widened when he saw the small smirk on Sol's face. His eyes slid down to his feet, only just now noticing the ground sagging beneath him. For a brief moment, everything seemed frozen in place.

"Teh, well done," Rocky said, returning Sol's smile.

It all came crashing down. A pained grunt forced its way up his throat when Rocky hit the floor. His whole body jostled from the force of the impact. Rocky looked up, a grimace of annoyance splitting his jaw. The pitfall Sol dug out beneath him was more than twice as deep as the one he fell into earlier. Before Rocky could even stand up, streams of light lanced across the mouth of the pit, striking the wall and setting forth a cascade of falling gravel. Dirt rained down upon Rocky as the hole was quickly filling up. Movement rapidly became more and more difficult within seconds.

"That's quite enough," an elderly voice called out from the edge of the clearing.

Sol ceased his attack, turning to face Belle as she walked up to him "Es?"

Wanda came up beside Belle, "She said that was enough, you did well."

"Well?! He did _great_!" Fia called out excitedly from her perch on the tree by the clearing.

Sol chuckled to himself, flattered with the compliments. Seizing the opportunity to rest, he let his hind legs crumple to the floor and flung his head back. Nose pointed to the sky, he clenched his eyes shut and sucked in a lung full of crisp air, holding it in for a second before allowing a long, drawn out, raspy sigh of relief. Sol parsed his eyes open. He sat, squinting at the sliver of sun peeking over the mountains. He calmly breathed in through his nose and muttered under his breath.

"It's moments like these that make me want to learn morning sun."

Belle walked up to the edge of the pit. Looking down at Rocky, she laughed quietly at the sight of him. The only part of Rocky's body left unburied was his head poking out of the dirt. A disgruntled grimace was etched into his snout. Belle raised up his pokeball and pointed it down the hole at him.

"You did very well Rocky. Return."

"Golem."

A thin line of red light shot out from the pokeball. Connecting with the tip of his nose, the light quickly spread out over his whole body. Within a matter of seconds, his form lost tangibility as he morphed into a weightless red mass, and was quickly drawn back into the pokeball. The dirt around him quickly crumpled inward, filling the void his body once occupied.

"Well. I think it's about time we all headed back to the manor. Come along everyone." Belle said as she turned and headed back through the forest.

Fia hopped down from her perch in the tree and jogged across the clearing calling after her. "Braixen!"

Wanda walked past Sol and casually lifted him off the ground with psychic.

Sol tiredly kicked his legs in her grip, and lamely called out in protest. "Ess. Peon es. Es es on peon es.".

"Delphox. Phox delphox del." Wanda replied, adjusting her grasp on him.

"Esss…"

Sol stopped squirming and allowed himself to relax, shifting around to a more comfortable position as he was carried back. He closed his eyes, deciding that a short nap would do him some good.

As the four of them continued to walk through the forest away from the clearing, Fia paused. She could faintly hear a familiar voice. Retracing a few steps, she peered through the trees back at the clearing, and smiled.

"... -aaaacchhiiiIIIRRRIIIIIIIISSSUUUUUUUUUUUU! RISU RI PACHI PA PACHIRI RISU PAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"YYYEEEEEEEENNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"BUN BBUUUUUUUUNNNNN!"

"Yay! Pink kitty beet up big wok thingy!"

 **...**

After returning back to the summer home, Sol spent the morning resting. He found himself intrigued by the humans. Though he couldn't understand what they were saying, he could kind of get the gist of what was going on. It did help that he could understand Fia, though. However, even more than the humans themselves, he became enamored with their "teevee", as Fia referred to it. The moving pictures and sounds scared him at first, not realizing that the events unfolding before him weren't literally taking place in front of him. They were watching a battle. It appeared to have been taking place in a huge open clearing, surrounded by tall walls, atop of which were rows and rows of seated humans and a few pokemon. It was a stadium, grander than any he'd ever seen. The pokemon battling were just as amazing too. They were strange and exotic pokemon, the likes of which he'd never seen before. A tall, lanky, brown pokemon, covered in plates of hard chitin, lunged forward with its blade arms raised, slashing at a blue pokemon wearing a white gi. The blue pokemon hopped to the side, sending two swift kicks back at his opponent, knocking it back. The brown armored pokemon stumbled back before shifting its stance. Light briefly flashed across its armor as its chitin took on a more reflective sheen. Everyone watching was getting excited, hooting and hollering with the flow of the battle; everyone except for Fia. She quietly observed the battle with an inquisitive glare, pondering and contemplating everything she saw. A fiery, red aura flared around the blue fighting pokemon. His gaze hardened, eyes locked onto his opponent. His hand went rigid, fingers locking out.

Sol immediately saw what the blue pokemon was going for. "He's going for a critical strike."

"Yep, and it's not going to work," Fia said dismissively, standing up and heading into the kitchen.

Confused for a moment, Sol looked back at the TV. Upon closer inspection, he noticed just how much the plates of chitin on the brown pokemon overlapped each other, tucking away almost all of its potential vital points. Battle armor.

Dashing forward, the blue fighter shot out his hand. A devastating karate chop, aiming for his opponents neck, glanced off one of the chitin plates. The brown, armored pokemon crossed its bladed arms across its chest. The blue fighter was launched back, a pair of slash-marks crossed his chest, marking his body with a large X. As he struggled to stand back up, the armored pokemon rocketed forward, propelled by a powerful jet of water shooting out behind it, slamming him against a wall. A human referee raised one of two colored flags. The match was over.

As groans and sighs swept around the room, Sol couldn't help but feel a little bothered by the outcome of the match. The battle was intense, and sure, he could feel the adrenaline, but the way the pokemon battled was fundamentally different. They were dealing some heavy blows, but that seemed to be their sole intent. They weren't trying to disable their opponent, to neutralize them and render them a non-threat. They were just trying to deal damage.

 _Is this how battles are fought here?_

The front door shut. Sol was shaken from his thoughts and looked out the window. The humans were loading several bags into a metal carriage outside.

Fia came back from the kitchen, "They're going to the beach."

"Huh?" Sol replied.

Fia walked up to his perch on the window sill, placing a metal cylinder in front of him.

"The beach. That is the place that they are going to right now. That clear enough?" Fia answered, a smart-aleck grin plastered across her face.

"Oh. Well wait, why aren't you going? Did they not want you to come?"

Fia scoffed, "Of course they wanted me to go. _I_ didn't want to go."

"Why not? You said you're all here for a vacation right?"

"Yeah, but I'd rather be spending my time here working on my battling technique. Never really had the opportunity to do that much in the city without mom and dad finding out." Fia answered. She pulled up a tab on top of the cylinder. With a hiss and a pop, the cylinder opened under the tab.

Sol looked at the cylinder she placed in front of him, looking at it curiously, "Is it against the rules to battle in the city?"

"Well, no. As long as you don't obstruct traffic, cause any property damage, or hurt bystanders, battling is fine. My parents are the issue." Fia explained, taking a sip from her cylinder.

Sol tilted his head, "Your parents? Why wouldn't they want you to be able to battle? That's something everyone needs to know how to do. How would you be able to defend yourself if you didn't know how to battle?"

"You've got to think about it in the context of a human society. Threats to your life aren't really something that very many humans need to worry about anymore. The lack of danger extends to pokemon under human care as well. To them, learning how to battle isn't something you _need_ to do now. For some, like my mom, learning how to battle is actually _more_ dangerous."

Sol looked back at his cylinder, "I see… I assume you have a good reason for disobeying them?"

"Good enough for me." Fia took another sip.

"So what is this?" Sol asked, bopping the cylinder with a paw.

"It's a can of soda; carbona- uh, water with compressed air mixed into it to make it fizzy. This one has mixed berry flavoring added to it. Just pull up the tab on the top."

Sol nodded his head. He pulled over the can, and while sitting up on his hind legs, pinned the can between them. Hooking a claw under the tab, he pulled up. The can opened with a hiss and pop like Fia's. Gripping it between his paws, he brought the can up to his mouth to drink.

The soda was refreshingly cold. The fizzy berry-water washed over his tongue. Hundreds of tiny bubbles bounced around across his taste buds, opening them up to the sweet flavor of the berries.

With a contented sigh, Sol set down the now-empty can. "That was delicious. Thank you Fia."

"Sure," She took another sip of her own soda. "Eh, it's alright. It could use more mago berries though."

"Hahahahaaa no."

Fia snorted, instantly reminded of last night's shenanigans. She tried her best to suppress her laughter but ended up blasting a bit of the soda out her nose. The rush of carbon water scrapped away at her nostrils. Thousands of tiny pins and needles gently prodded at the sensitive flesh inside her nose.

"AAAAGH! Shoo, ah god soda in mah noze!" Fia screamed, desperately trying to clear her nostrils of the offending liquid pain.

Sol looked at Fia with equal parts concern and amusement, "My gosh, are you okaahaheehahahh!" He asked, trying to fight back his laughter.

Belle walked into the room, a bundle of packed satchels in her arms. She looked upon the events unfolding before her and smiled.

"You two seem to be enjoying yourselves. When you're done, come see Wanda and I at the front door."

 **...**

Sol tightened the straps on the satchels slung over his back. With food and supplies checked and accounted for, he turned to face Belle, Wanda, and Fia. Belle stepped forward and opened the front door. Light flooded the foyer, illuminating the room and exposing little bits of dust suspended in the air.

"Thank you for helping me, and I'm sorry for freaking out and attacking you earlier," Sol stated sincerely, bowing his head slightly.

Wanda smiled and waved her hand dismissively, "Think nothing of it. It's only natural to help someone in need."

The four of them stepped outside onto the front porch. The painted wood, warmed by the sunlight, felt nice under Sol's paws. Fia stepped forward, pointing down the dirt road that led away from the house.

"Just follow the main dirt path until you hit the highway. It's the road paved over with asphal- uh… packed black gravel. Once there, follow it north. It's about a day and a half on foot, but you should arrive at the nearest city by about noon tomorrow."

Sol nodded, "Got it."

He began his walk down the road. Turning to say goodbye before heading out. As he faded from sight, Belle knelt down beside Fia. Gently tapping her shoulder.

"Fia."

"Brai?"

Belle handed her a small backpack. Fia paused for a moment, confused.

"I know you've been planning on running away from home for a while now."

Fia was stunned. Her mouth opened and shut frantically with nothing to say as she struggled to process what she just heard. _How did she know? Sure I hid away some stuff I was gonna bring a while back, but there wasn't that much to find! How could she-_

Belle grinned mischievously, "Sweetie, please. I did the same thing when I was young. Of course I figured it out."

Fia looked away, guilty and ashamed. Wanda knelt down in front of her.

"While I can't say that I approve of your decision, I want you to know that I'm proud of how far you've come." Wanda smiled, "I know you're going to go regardless of what we say. In light of that, I have something for you."

Wanda pulled out a small, light-gray pendant with a lavender-hued, teardrop gem set into it. She placed it around Fia's neck, the magnetic clasp popping together. Fia ran a digit over the pendant. The stone was smooth and cool to the touch. It was gracefully ground into the shape of a small, flickering flame, and polished to a near-reflective sheen. She looked down at the gem set into the stone. The light grey tone of the stone pendant subtly transitioned to the faded lavender of the gemstone. The cord looping through the tips of the flame was made of braided steel fibers, ensuring the longevity of this finely crafted piece of jewelry. Fia giggled to herself, giddy with excitement. She twirled in place, feeling the weight of the pendant around her neck as she moved.

Wanda watched as Fia tenderly examined her gift, smiling at her wonder. "This was my pendant from way back when I was still a braixen. The gemstone set into it is special. It's an eviolite. It will significantly improve your resilience, allowing you to withstand attacks you wouldn't be able to normally."

Fia, looked up at both of them, tears welling up in her eyes.

She wiped them away, and smiled, "I wasn't planning on leaving just yet."

Wanda chuckled, "We know, but you likely won't have a better opportunity to leave if not now. Besides, someone has to keep an eye on Sol."

"Yeah, true. He'll probably end up spending more time being lost than he will looking for his daughter." Fia laughed along with Wanda.

Belle stood up. "You should get going dear, you need to catch up to Sol."

"Brai!" Fia nodded confidently.

She took a moment to re-tighten the clamps holding the large, blue pearls in place on the ends of her ear-tufts, and adjust her bracelets and anklets. With that, she hopped off the porch and took off running down the road. Calling back her goodbyes as she ran off into the distance.

When Fia was no longer visible, Belle and Wanda headed inside.

 **...**

"Did you tell her Wanda?"

"… _No…"_

"I see… I hope she'll be alright…"


End file.
